inFamous: Twisted Metal
by DarkWolf Publications
Summary: The replacement for Fire and Smoke. My name's Vincent, and I'm royally screwed. With the DUP gone, DARPA and GOLIATH just picked up the slack, killing conduits left and right. There's a wannabe Kessler on the run, and I also have to deal with the borderline sociopath almost-conduits who may or may not try to kill me. {Part of the Second Kessler universe.} Liked it? Leave a review.
1. Chapter 1: Breakout

**(Hey guys. Welcome to the new inFamous story I'm writing. Sorry about what happened with the last one but I didn't feel like I could make it go anywhere. Also this is not a crossover. Enjoy this, and thanks for your support. You guys are literally the best. Oh, and I've re-written this opening like five times xD. ~Zeta)**

Chapter One

Breakout

Augustine. I don't think I've ever hated anyone more than her. I hate her more than Yankees fans hate the Red Sox. I hate her more than Lenin hated capitalism. I think I might even hate her more than Beatles fans hate Yoko Ono. And I attempted to convey this hate in my glare at the aforementioned person as she calmly gazed at me from her observation booth.

"Good morning, Vincent. How are you today?"

"Go to hell," I snapped back. "You don't care about me, so let's drop the pretense. I'll play your stupid games for another day, and you don't murder my girlfriend."

She shook her head reproachfully, like a mother scolding a child. "Vincent. I protect you. I protect all conduits, from-"

"The outside world?" I laughed harshly, "That's a load of crap and you know it. If you were really trying to protect us, you'd teach us to use our powers at the YMCA, not in here." I raised my fists, which were both sealed in concrete, "Now get me out of these things and I'll get started."

She shook her head, "Not today, Vincent. I came today to say goodbye."  
>"So you're gonna kill me?" I tried playing it off with a smirk, but my heart was pounding. <em>Shit shit shit shit-<em>

"No. I'm leaving. A certain… situation has arisen in Seattle."

I rolled my eyes, "Oh boy, a new conduit! If I behave while you're gone, can I get them as a cellmate?"

"You will be continually monitored," she droned on, stating the obvious. "If you even think of misbehaving, my officers will execute orders.."

"By which you mean they'll execute my girlfriend," I challenged.

She smiled again. Did I mention how much I hate her?

"You understand perfectly. I will see you upon my return." She walked away, and I tried to flip her off. My hands were still encased in concrete, but it's the thought that counts.

Fast forward about a week. Yep, still in my cell. _Eating is ridiculously difficult with these things._ I glared at one of the many cameras in the room and stuck out my tongue, mouthing _fuck you_. I wasn't prepared for the tremor that shook the building to it's roots. Nor was I prepared for pieces of the ceiling to start falling out.

"WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK-" I jumped out of the way of a piece of concrete, barely avoiding being smashed to bits. Everywhere I looked I saw destruction, bits of Curdun Cay crashing into the floor. The ceiling was cracking and the entire prison was shaking, deep in it's roots.

_What the hell? This isn't California, we don't get earthquakes…_ I crawled under the table and tried to make myself as small as I could. Then I noticed that the table itself was cracking… and so was the concrete around my hands. _Augustine. Something's happened to Augustine._ The shaking stopped as suddenly as it began, and I tentatively crawled out from under the table. _It seems safe…_ As I stood up, I heard my concrete cuffs crackle weakly. Without hesitation, I slammed them on the table, again and again, until they finally shattered. I flexed my now-freed hands, and a smile slowly started to creep across my face. I threw my arms wide and felt my power come rushing back, slamming into me in waves. It blossomed and overflowed, and I felt about ready to split in two.


	2. Chapter 2: Gotta Find the Bae

I grinned like a maniac as I raced down the halls, not caring who I ran into. _I'm free! _I skidded down a hall, and kicked open the first door I saw.

"Stick 'em up!" I didn't give the dupes any time to react, instead flying feet-first into the first one I saw. He crumpled to the ground, and I rolled with him, snatching up his gun and bringing a rain of bullets down on his friend in the process. Tossing the gun away, I scurried over to the computer, and quickly found the infamous List.

I guess I should explain what the List is. It's a list of every conduit, known, suspected, captured, free… it's a compilation of all the DUP's knowledge on conduits. I typed a name into the List.

"Found you." I slammed the laptop shut, tucked it under my arm, grabbed another rifle and ran out the door. Sprinting, I took a left and almost took a few rounds to the face.

"Crap!" I ducked back behind the corner, just in time to see a concrete grenade sail by. Placing the laptop down gently, I shouldered the rifle and peeked around the corner. One of them was yelling something about an escapee into his shoulder mic, but the other two saw me. The one in front stepped forward.

"Return to your cell! If you refuse to comply, we will use force. This will be your _only_ warning."

"Cool story, bro," I yelled back. "Now go tell it to someone who gives a shit!"

"Open fire!" Bullets flew past me, and took chunks out of the wall.

_Great._ I poked my rifle around and squeezed the trigger.

"Take cover!" I heard the telltale sound of a concrete wall being erected, and took that as my que. When I jumped around the corner, instead of shooting at the wall, I rushed forward, vaulted over the wall, and emptied the clip while flying through the air, upside down. I felt like a hero in a damn action movie. That is, of course, until I landed on my head.

"Son of a bitch!" Frowning, I ran back around the corner, grabbed the laptop, and continued on my merry way.

Three flights of stairs later, and a right turn, I found what I was looking for. I slung my rifle, put down the computer, and swiped an access card I had picked up earlier. The door clicked open. I threw open my arms and cracked a smile, "Glad to see me?"

My very unexpected welcome was a punch in the face. And following my unceremonious collapse onto the ground, a few shots in the stomach.

"Really?" I looked down to see my pristine white shirt riddled with bullet holes.

Andi smirked, "Had to make sure it was you." She offered a hand, and I swatted it away, rolling to my pouted, "Don't you love me anymore?"

"At the moment?" I looked up, letting my eyes wander. Her inky black hair that flowed like a river. Her cream-colored, flawless skin, the freckles I found irresistibly cute. Those deep, purple eyes she has and a body that must've been handcrafted by god. I smiled gently, "At the moment I feel like shoving that rifle up your ass."

She laughed and threw her arms around me, "It's definitely you. Only you would get so upset about a shirt."

I hugged her back and breathed in her scent. _She always smells like oranges and cloves._ "It's the only one I've got. I can't fight dupes looking like a homeless guy."

"We _are_ homeless, idiot. We met on the run, remember?" She looked up, "How did you manage to find me, anyways?"

"The List." I handed her the laptop with a grin. "You know, it's says you're only 5'7."

"Bullshit. I'm 5'9 and you know it." She took the laptop and began rapidly typing away. "You actually have a working copy of the List. Awesome."

"Yeah, I'm thinking it might come in handy." I looked down the hallway, "You wanna do that somewhere else? There's nowhere to duck and cover."I glanced back at Andi, and she had her hand over her mouth, smothering her laughter.

"What?" I tried looking at the laptop, but she just pulled it away, now laughing out loud.

"It's you! Oh my god, what is that?!" She was doubled over with laughter, so I took my chance and grabbed the laptop. I saw the picture and stared in shock. _How… How did they even get this?_ As quickly as I could, I deleted it from the network. Andi was still laughing, tears rolling down her face.

"This was what instant regret looks like," I lamely offered. Andi put out a hand, she was laughing too hard to answer.

"Oh my god… The rainbow! It was rainbow!" She dissolved in another fit of laughter and I rolled my eyes and went back to editing my information on the List. I chose a picture where I actually looked good (thank god they had a few decent ones) and I slammed the laptop shut.

Andi wiped her eyes, "You, you… Rainbow polyester."

"You done?"

"Yeah, yeah." She chuckled a little as she got up. "Where to next?"

"According to the map?" I opened the laptop and quickly clicked on an overview of the building until I found what I was looking for. "Here." I pointed at the map and Andi raised an eyebrow.

"Storage?"

"It's where they keep our stuff. I want my stuff back."

Andi rolled her eyes at me, "By stuff you mean clothes, right?"

_The sass…_ "My outfit was hella fly when I got in here and it's gonna be on point when we bust out." I gave her a huge grin, "Come on, let's go."

Andi rolled her eyes again, "Alright, alright. I swear, you're more of a girl than I am."

"Like hell." We started down the hall, "So how was you six months?"

"Horrible." She looked over, eyebrow raised, "What? Did you think I had tea parties with Augustine?"

"No, but I thought you two gossiped about me behind my back. You know, girl talk at the salon." I poked my head around the corner, and seeing no one, kept walking.

"She said she had some sort of death squad on you."  
>"She said the same about you." I shrugged, "I'm fine, and you're fine. She probably just used it to keep us in line."<p>

"I'm almost disappointed." She shrugged, "Killer death squad sounds like it'd be fun to fight."

"Sure it does, until you almost die." She looked over at me, and we both grinned.

Andi did that hair-flip thing I loved, "They'd be the ones almost dying."

"I agree." I looked around, "You'd think there'd be more prisoners escaping."

Screams tore the air and three dupes flew past us, impaled on barbed wire. A man advanced inside a swirling ball of barbed wire, screaming obscenities. He sliced one soldier into pieces with the flick of his wrist, and left the other two writhing in agony. And where did the very angry barbed wire man turn next? You guessed it.

"Get out of my way, or end up like them." He raised his hands toward us in an attempt to be more menacing.

I chuckled, "Sure thing, except this hallway's kinda small. How about you move?" _Here we go…_

He yelled, and sent swords formed from the barbed wire at me. I stretched out my hands, feeling the metal call out to me. The swords never struck me, instead dissolving into metal and flowing into my body. The return of my powers, the rush… It was intense. There was silence in the hall, and I lowered my hands. "Yeah."

The man jerked back, and the wire ball rustled uncomfortably. "You… you control metal?"

I laughed outright this time, "You can't touch me, man." I saw his eyes flick towards Andi, who probably presented an easier target, and shook my head. "Don't even think about it."

"You heard the man." Andi made shooing motion with her hands, "Move, bitch. Get out the way."

Almost reluctantly, the wire guy rolled to the right, and we passed by. I waved, and Andi blew him a kiss.

"So that went better than expected." I reached for Andi's hand and we strolled down the hall arm in arm.  
>"It's not like it would have gone <em>badly<em>," She pointed out with a grin. "You could absorb anything he threw at us."

"Yeah," I fingered one of the bullet holes in my shirt, "but he might have cut up this shirt even more."

Andi raised an eyebrow at me, "You wouldn't mind if he cut _my_ shirt up, though?"

I grinned, "Not really." I got a slap on the back of the head as a reply.

"You're horrible." Even as she said it, she was grinning ear to ear. "Let's get your jacket and get out already."

"You're in luck," I said, bowing before a door. "We have arrived."


	3. Chapter 3: Blow me Away

"Found it!" I hoisted my favorite jacket out of a slate-grey container.

Andi stood with her arms crossed and a bemused smile on her face, "Can we go now?"

"Sure, if you wanna miss out on all the cool goodies." I tossed away my hoodie and my shirt, and replaced it with my favorite purple and red DeadMau5 tshirt with purple-ish gray jacket and blue and black Nikes. Rooting through the box, I found my black jeans (Which were strangely cleaned), my wallet (with nothing in it) and my Decepticon belt (yeah, Autobots are for pussies.) I grabbed my pants and started changing.

"Really?" Andi rolled her eyes, "No shame."

"What? Nothing you haven't seen before. Besides," I pulled up my jeans and buckled the belt, "I don't like sweatpants." I raised my hand, and formed a slab-like metal mirror to examine myself. _Hmm… I'm about the same color as a brown paper bag… so I'm lighter than normal. Eyes are still brown, hair still curly mini-afro… My face is a little thinner than usual, probably the shitty prison food._ Satisfied, I turned around and let the mirror collapse."Okay, outfit's on point."

Andi gave an exaggerated sigh, uncrossing her arms. "So we can go now?"

"We could…" I smiled evilly, "Or we could steal everyone's stuff." I saw her eyes light up and I laughed. "Sound good?"

"Now you're talking." She hauled a case off the shelf and started rummaging through it. "We'll need money, if you can find any."

"I'll look for your stuff too," I offered as I opened more cases. "It'd help to find those ink cartridges."

"Yeah. Anything ink would be nice."

I shuffled through tons of clothes, wallets, and shoes before I found something interesting. "Here's some pens." I tossed them over, and Andi cracked and drained them, the dark ink flowing into her skin and fading. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, a smile slowly spreading across her face.

"Has it been-" She held up a hand, and I shut up. Slowly, she opened her eyes, and gave me a dreamy smile. "It's been a while."

I raised an eyebrow, "It's been a while since we've-."

She raised her hand again, cutting me off with a smile. "Let get out of here first before we start planning any extracurriculars, alright?"

I nodded, and searched through another case, finding nothing but clothes again. Sighing, I reached out and touched the metal storage rack. I sent a pulse through it, and checked every container in the room for interesting things. "Andi?"

She looked up, "Yeah?"

I grinned, "I found a secret door."

"What's behind it," She raised an eyebrow, "and how do you know that it's a door?"

"Well… It's the only metal wall in this whole place." I stood up and crossed the room, passing endless racks holding storage containers. "Now why would that be?"

Andi walked over, "So lower ranking people can't open it by accident."

I ran my fingers along the wall, "Yeah. If you weren't me, you couldn't tell that this was here." Pressing my palms against the metal, I began to absorb it, peeling back the door. Eventually I had made a hole big enough to walk through, and did, tentatively.

Andi followed me in, "This is obviously not on the map." She looked at the screen of the laptop just to be sure, then shook her head. "Nope. Could be _all _kinds of traps in here."

I looked back with a sly smile, "Ladies first?"

"Ha…" She rolled her eyes, "No."

"Onward then, I press." I put a hand to my forehead, "Into the valley of the damned, where poor unsuspecting Conduits are killed by their pushy girlfriends." Andi actually laughed, and I moved forward, down the ominously long hall. There were slots in the walls, and each of them held an item, kinda like the vault in the Thor movies. "Black Tar sample: Sasha? Who's Sasha?" I picked up the vial, and shook it. "It just looks like normal tar."

"Who's Kessler?" I turned around and saw Andi holding up a metal arm.

"A robot, apparently?" I took the arm and tried moving it around, "We can look him up on the List later." Finding that the joints were locked solid, I put the arm back. I stepped to the next slot in the wall and jumped back, "Holy shit!"

Andi rolled her eyes and walked over, "Don't be such a… Okay, what the hell is that thing?" Inside a tank was an inhuman monster with sickly grey skin. It's arms were normal until the elbow, where they widened out and became canoe shaped. It's legs were freakishly over-developed and covered in what looked like some sort of brown exoskeleton. It's face was devoid of hair and it had tentacles for a mouth. And this monstrosity was suspended in a cylindrical chamber of glass, floating in an unknown liquid.

I read the plaque at the bottom of the tank. "Corrupted. Sample obtained from New Marais. Deceased."

Andi shook her head, "Is that a Conduit?"

"Maybe. I don't know. Whatever it is, it's gross." I moved down to one of the last notches, "Hey, check this out." I picked up a backpack and read the plaque. "MacGrath's Bag. Used as a storage device for his Amplifier." I slung the bag across my back, "We're keeping this."

"So now we're not even breaking out, we're just stealing Augustine's stuff?"

"It's not really stealing—"

"You shouldn't be touching things that don't belong to you."

We whirled around to see a woman fully clad in leather. Her hair, eyes and even her skin were an eerie shade of grayish-white. She was smiling at the two of us as if she were greeting an old friend and didn't even seem phased by the monster in the tank.

"And you're here to stop us, I suppose?" Andi smirked.

"No. Not really. Well, at least not if you agree to hand over that bag and the Tar-sample. Oh and you might want to leave before I blow the place up." Her voice was strangely monotonous and echoed as if we were in a cave.

"I like this bag," I smiled, _Time to whoop some ass._ "And I wanna keep it. Soooo… if you want it, you're gonna have to come and get it." The white-haired lady's smile grew even bigger.

"I thought you'd never ask!" She flicked her wrist and, before I could react, my hands were encased in concrete. Andi's were too.

"So you're one of Augustine's lackeys." I grunted, trying to get out of the restraints, only to have more concrete sealing my feet together at the ankles.

"Hardly." She casually strolled over to me and pulled the bag off my shoulders, "Actually I'm using Terra's power from 'Teen Titans'," She pulled out a comic from a pocket in her coat and waved it in front of my face to prove her point, "it's _surprisingly _exhausting!" _As if I care._ She put the comic away and patted my cheek before grabbing the vial of Black Tar and some other stuff from different slots in the wall— including Kessler's arm and a couple of glowing, purple stones. _Aww… I wanted those stones. They looked cool. _She then pulled out a large cube of, what looked like plasticine and threw it into the centre of the room. _Wait. _ I groaned inwardly, _Fucking hell. She's gonna try and blow us up._ The woman was about to walk off when she turned back around and sighed, "If this was seven years ago, I'd definitely leave you to die here. But… I'm not like that anymore." She pulled another book out of her pocket, this one was plain black and I couldn't see the title. She opened it up to a random page and held it up in the air. A flash of white. Then blood-red. And then a shrill scream of pure horror. _Shit… that's Andi screaming._

"ANDI!"

Next thing I know, the two of us are outside the gigantic doors of Curdun Cay.

"What in the hell just happened?" Andi turned to me, her face deathly pale.

"Are you okay?" I reached out and pulled her into a tight hug.

"You were screaming," she mumbled. "I'd never heard you in that much pain."

"I wasn't…That woman must've messed with our heads". _What the hell type of power was that, anyways?_

Andi hugged me even tighter, "I thought you…" she buried her head in my shoulder and squeezed me tightly. I sighed and we just stood there, with the world's most advanced prison crumbling behind us. I waited a few moments for Andi to pull herself to together. After some time, she looked up, and dried her eyes. "I'm fine, you idiot." She gave me a weak smile, "Let's just get out of here." I nodded, and kept my arm around her shoulder as we headed out. I had hardly taken a few steps before I kicked something lying on the floor. It was MacGrath's bag. And a note attached. Andi pulled it off and read it out aloud.

"_I've got everything I needed from the bag.  
>I've left $2000 and your laptop inside. There's also a blueprint for something I thought you might like.<em>

_I hope I didn't damage your ego too much._

_Well… you never stood a chance anyway.  
>Sorry about that little experience, the only book that would have worked was a horror book.<em>

_Nothing personal._

_Alice in Wonderland."_

"Alice in wonderland?" I mused out loud. "The hell's that supposed to mean?"

Andi crumpled up the note and hurled it away. "Means she's a crazy bitch."

I smiled and kissed Andi's forehead. "You're right. Let's go, I betcha I can hotwire a DUP truck."

"Thank god," She sniffed, and started walking towards the vehicle depot, "Because I'm sure as hell not walking to Seattle."


	4. Chapter 4: Iron Sand

**Author's Note: I use the word faggot a lot in this chapter, so be aware. I'm not intolerant or anything. It was actually Haru who put most of those in, and it's not intended to be homophobic. Also, shoutout to all the Kiwi's who've read this fic so far.**

I drove down the highway, on the road to Seattle. Andi stared out the window, we hadn't hardly said a word since that bitch Alice did… whatever it was she did. I reached over and squeezed her knee, "Hey. You gonna be alright?"

"Yeah." She looked over and gave me a soft smile, "You want me to drive? It's been hours."

"Eh, I think I can suffer through. Besides, it's pretty around here." We were driving on a road completely surrounded by trees with red, yellow, and orange leaves that gently drifted down. I had the window open, and the only sound I could hear besides the engine was the rustle of leaves we drove through. _Fall is my second favorite season._ I looked at our fuel gauge, _Yep, still empty._ That was the real reason I needed to stay awake. My powers were the only thing keeping this hunk of metal rolling, at least until we found a gas station. Then we could steal a car that would be slightly less conspicuous, and ditch it when we got to Seattle. "Hey, Andi?"

"Hmm?" She opened her eyes, and turned to face me, yawning.

"Nevermind. Go back to sleep."

She grumbled about "not being able to sleep if you keep bothering me" and curled up in her seat.

I smiled and turned around. Then I noticed the black bag in the back seat. _What the hell? _I reached over and unzipped it. Inside was a large painting; in the middle was some origami chick, a particularly thin looking nerd and... the Queer Scotsman?! Augustine was there (for some reason). I was half tempted to toss the painting out the back, but I decided to have some fun with it first...

* * *

><p>A few more hours and my eyes were starting to close on their own. The fact that I had to keep the truck rolling was starting to drain me. Luckily, before I fell asleep and sent us hurtling towards our doom, we found a gas station. I gently shook Andi awake, "Hey, get up."<p>

"No." She tried to scoot away, but I persisted, and was rewarded with a grumpy Andi as we made our way inside the dingy AMPM. She headed to the bathroom and I started grabbing bags of beef jerky (for me) and some crappy gas station burgers (for Andi). I also grabbed two cases (48 cans) of Arizona Iced Tea. I dumped all this on the counter in front of the somewhat bewildered cashier.

"And you're sure that's all?" He asked as he rubbed the bridge of his nose..

"Actually…" I grabbed two cases of water and toothbrushes, toothpaste, and floss. "Gotta love convenience, right?"

He started ringing all the goodies up, and I noticed there was a printer behind the counter. "Uh… You got any ink in that printer?"

He just stared at me. "What?"

"Any ink? Or, uh, extra ink?"

The cashier smiled bemusedly and shook his head, "You wanna buy that too?"

I leaned on the counter, "I'll give you a hundred bucks for all your cartridges."

"Deal." He handed me four cartridges, "The food is ninety-eight sixty-five. You wanna gas up your…" He trailed off as he saw the DUP truck parked outside. he looked at me, the truck and back to me.

I raised my hands, "Look, we don't want any trouble-"

"What trouble?" He shrugged, "No trouble here. You just paid for your food and your gas and left." He tapped some keys on the register and cleared our purchases. He also held out a set of car keys.

"You serious?" I asked, looking at the keys.

"Yep. Trade?"

I tossed him the keys from the truck, "You sure you wanna drive that thing around?"

"Are you kidding?" He laughed, "That truck looks like a beast."

I shrugged, and turned around to see Andi coming out of the bathroom. "Hey princess." I tossed her the cartridges, "Help me carry this stuff to the car." I dangled the keys.

She raised an eyebrow and picked up some stuff.

"Orange mustang," The guy yelled as we left the store. When I saw it, I almost dropped my armful of tea. "No way…"

It was a rusty, old 69 Mustang Boss 429. I opened the trunk with a flick of my hand, and we deposited all the food.

"You gonna give it the workover?" Andi asked as she closed the trunk.

"Yep." I closed my eyes, and laid my hands on the car. I send a pulse of metal along the body, removing the rust flakes and eventually replacing every metal part, so it was basically brand new. Stepping back, I admired my work. I looked over at Andi, "Your turn."

She nodded, and absorbed the ink from the cartridges. I moved aside as she placed her hands on the car. Orchid purple ink flowed over the car, covering it completely. Then she stepped to the side, spraying neon blue dragons, entwined with gold and white lilies, on each door. Stepping to the hood, she let the ink flow, forming a white hawk with a blue crest across it's chest. "Ready."

"Can you do that to the truck?" We turned around and saw the cashier.

Andi shrugged, "Sure."

Five minutes later, We were driving away, munching on beef jerky and burgers, and the awesome cashier had a sick paintjob.

"That was so cash," Andi said with a smile as she sped down the road.

"Damn straight." I munched on my jerky and sipped my tea, "Make a left up ahead."

"Aye aye, Captain." She slammed the wheel to the left and I almost spilled my tea.

"Calm down, Tokyo Drift! I'm eating here."

Andi just laughed and cranked up the radio. "Come on! You want me to go slow in _this_ car?" She slapped the clutch and shifted up a gear.

"No, I just don

t wanna spill my drink!" I chugged the last tea and absorbed the can.

"Stop whining," She said with a grin.

"Screw you." I reached over and pinched her butt, and she squealed and slapped my hand. I laughed and unbuckled my seat belt, sliding across the car to give her a kiss.

"Stop it!" She laughed and tried pushing me away, "I'm driving!"

"Then pull over!" I slid my hands under her shirt and kissed her on the cheek. Laughing, she made it to the side of the road, and I pressed up against the side of the car, kissing her and biting her lip, like she loved.

She smiled but shook her head. "You don't have any condoms, stud."

I said nothing, but instead produced an entire box from my jacket.

Andi's eyes widened. "Okay, I wasn't expecting that."

"So…"

She smiled, "So what are you waiting for?"

I leaned forward and kissed her again.

* * *

><p>Andi was practically purring as she pulled her shirt back on. "That's the best I've felt in a long time."<p>

"Six months," I reminded her as I buckled my belt.

"Mmm, it feels like an eternity." She draped her arms around my shoulders and kissed me, pushing me back into my seat. "Stay there this time, or we'll never get to Seattle."

I shrugged and blew her a kiss, "No promises."

"Ha ha." She pointed at me, and black ink swirled around her finger, "I'm serious. You come over here again and I _will_ blast you unconscious."

"Alright, alright." I tore open another bag of beef jerky and started eating, "Drive on."

Andi slammed on the gas, and we raced down the road.

"We're not that far aways anyway." I opened the laptop and brought up a map, "Like six miles to the first bridge."

"Really? How far have we come since then?"

"Uhh… Twenty miles, or around there." I shoved more beef jerky in my mouth and cracked open another can of tea, taking a swig.

Andi frowned, "I don't know how you can eat that."

"Practice." I smiled and took another swig of the beef jerky/tea combo.

And then the earthquake hit. Iced tea, beef jerky and saliva _everywhere_. Seriously… not nice. I suddenly regretted not buckling up when my body was thrown into Andi's and the car swerved off the road. It took a while to realise that the reason that Andi's hair was standing on up was because the car had upturned. Shit… the only person who I could think of that could have caused an earthquake is Augustine. _Fuck that…_ I kicked out a window, "Andi! Get out, come on! _I'm sure as hell not going back to that shit hole._

Andi unbuckled and crawled out her side, "You got beef-tea spit all over me!" I looked over, _Shit._ Her shirt was drenched with tea and little chunks of jerky. _Well, on the negative side, she might kill me before Augustine. On the plus, wet t-shirt!_

And just when I thought that an earthquake was the most surprising event of the day… an old friend decided to pay a visit. _Well,_ I thought, _at least it wasn't Augustine._ I smiled, _It's the Queer Scotsman! _I rolled out of the hole that had once been a window and stood up with a playful smirk on my face. I cupped my hands around my mouth and yelled at the top of my lungs,"HEY FAGGOT!"

Edward returned my smirk with his own and created a Glass sword in one hand and a trident in the other, "I'm gonna enjoy ripping your head off."

"Andi," I said, "Toss me the bag."

"Why?"

"The blueprint thingy. Trust me." She nodded and threw it to me from the car. Unzipping it, I pulled out some folded papers, and shook them out. _Holy shit, she DID give me the Demon's weapon._ Raising my right hand, I carefully began to construct what the blueprint called an 'Amp' _Hmm, it's a little long… I don't like two handed weapons,_ "Andi, hold him off for a few seconds." I started to create the weapon by using metal that I had absorbed earlier but I tweaked it a little; I shortened the handle and looked at the design again, _What if I made it so it could fold? _Instead of the straight design, I put two prongs and attached them each to a movable, circular joint on the side. _Alright. Now for some style. _I ran my hand along the slender base and etched the word _Rebellion _into the handle. _Close enough. I can finish this later._

"VINCE! QUIT JERKING IT TO YOUR NEW TOY AND HELP!" I snapped to attention. Andi was lying on the ground a few feet away and her hands were bound together with glowing-green, Glass restraints _Oh, yeah. Queer Scotsman is still here._ I folded the blueprints and looked over, "Hey, I thought you were gay!" I launched myself towards Edward with a pillar of metal, similar to the DUP's concrete launch, "Hands off my GF!" I swung my Amp towards his head but he blocked it with his trident. Still, cracks spread across the Glass handle and a few bits chipped off. _Holy shit._ I threw up my left hand and fired metal shrapnel right at his face, while swinging the Amp again at his trident. This time, his weapon shattered. The shrapnel threw him back a few feet but he didn't look as hurt as I would've liked. _Great_. "There's more where that came from, ya fooking bloke." I laid on the accent thick. "I'll have eu know I'm the sickest bloke around," I drawled, "I dropped out o' Newcastle primary and I've nicked over 300 globbernaughts from the corner store, If eu think you can take me I'll get me boys and we'll 'ave a proper rumble that'll make eur nan sore jus' hearin' about it."

"I… You… YOU-WHAT!?" His face went bright red.

"Eu 'eard me, Bruv. I'll fookin' waste eu." _Oh, my god, I might die._ I was trying not to laugh, but a smile was fighting it's way onto my face. "Eu won't see me comin' mate, I'ma ninja—" I would have loved to carry on but he rudely cut me off with a fist in my face. I stumbled back, clutching my nose, and something hard hit me in the stomach— forcing me to double over. I couldn't hold back anymore, and started uncontrollably laughing, despite my broken nose, making the Queer's face even more red. Scarlet even. I set my nose in place so that it'd heal properly and wiped tears of mirth from my eyes. Before he could react, I flipped to my feet, launched backwards, and fired two Metal rockets directly at him. He raised his hands and created a Glass cocoon around himself, absorbing all the damage. I smiled in the corner of my mouth, _You won't get away that easily. _Slamming a fist into the ground, I channelled energy towards the cocoon. Metallic tentacles ripped out of the road and wrapped around the cocoon. I squeezed my hand into a fist and the tendrils tightened, shattering his construct.

But he wasn't there. _Fucking hell._ I immediately myself launched into the air, _I might have to use Iron Sand, he's quicker than he looks… But where is he? _I created a floating disk of metal to keep me suspended in the air as I quickly surveyed the area.

"Lookin' for me?" I whirled around to face the voice… but he wasn't there. Only two spiky balls of Glass that were gently bobbing up and down in the air and slowly making their way towards me. _Pffft!_ I shot a piece of shrapnel towards one. _Even if they're mines, the explosion shouldn't be too bad. _Well, that was a big mistake! The explosion was more powerful than it had any right to be, throwing me straight off my metal disc and sending me hurtling towards the ground. On my jolly way down I noticed that the explosion had also torn my t-shirt to strips. _That's it!_ I threw my arms outward, and black, sand-like particles swarmed around them. Using my thrusters, I floated to the ground. "Come on, you faggot! Show your little bitch face!"

"Gladly." I turned around, this time to see a glass-encased fist flying towards my face. I smirked, and simply flicked my wrist. The sand-metal enveloped his fist and his hand froze, inches away from my face. I spun my hand, and the sand swirled around the hardened glass, shredding it in seconds. Faggot's look of surprise was priceless. I raised my other hand, and shot a spike of iron sand directly at his stomach. Instead of a few feet, he flew across the road and into the woods. When he hadn't got out twenty seconds later, I launched myself straight up into the air and fired a rocket, which was three huge spikes revolving around each other. The resulting explosion cut a huge swath in the woods, and I let myself fall back to the ground.

"And that's how the Scottish faggot died happily ever after." I said as if I was reading the end of a fairytale.

I was still using Iron Sand when the three blindingly orange rockets flew out of the woods, all aimed with deadly precision. Instead of backpedaling or jumping out of the way I shot rockets straight out of the sky— they showered the ground with molten glass but were way too far to hurt me. I used the sand particles to propel me forwards, heading for the source. And then it kicked in. Iron sand took a lot of metal to maintain… and my reserves were almost up. _Fuck. _ I crashed to the ground, and was barely able to launch myself back at the car. I slammed into the side, "Andi, help me flip this, we gotta go!"

"What the hell do you think I've been trying to do?" She had her hands under the car, "It's a _car! _It's heavy as hell!"

I reached under, "One, two three, pull!" We flipped the car with a resounding crash, and I barely had enough time to congratulate myself on opening the metaphorical pickle jar before someone tapped me on the shoulder. _Fuck._ I spun around, and made a very bad choice, deciding _not_ to shoot a rocket at whoever it was.

It was the Scottie. He had a nasty purple bruise on one cheek but it was fading before my eyes, "That last hit hurt quite a bit." He raised his hand and small shards of glass floated above it. They joined together to make half a dozen weirdly-shaped blades. No, not blades. Letters. '_Look up_' they read. Instead of looking up, I grabbed the Scot's face with both hands. _Hail mary time._ I tried to discharge a rocket directly into his face. Well, I guess I should have taken his advice and looked up. Because I totally missed the giant glass boulder hovering above me. Luckily for me, I have an awesome girlfriend who just _loves_ saving my life. Andi laughed as she threw her hand up, and cut the boulder neatly in half with a pulse of ink. Unfortunately for me, I was under one of those halves and got to see the boulder fall straight at me. The last thing I saw was Andi giving me a look that said, _Come on! You just ruined that badassery. _The great thing about being in a relationship with someone is that you learn to read their facial expressions. I contemplated this as I sunk into an inky blackness.


	5. Chapter 5: Arrival

Drifting through unconsciousness, I woke to see a hand cloaked in glowing red energy pointed at me. I followed the arm up to the face of the owner. _Holy crap_. "You're the guy in the painting with the Queer Scotsman and Origami chick."

He looked surprised, "I painted that."

I started laughing as my vision grew hazy and I passed out again. This time I woke up in the seat of the car, with Andi staring out the window. "Urgh." I sat up, head in my hands. "What the hell happened?"

"You passed out, you idiot." She turned to look at me, "What the hell were you thinking? Using iron sand with no metal in sight?" She kicked the floor of the car, "You almost got yourself killed!"

I reached over, "Hey, I'm sorry-"

"No you're not!" She swatted away my hand and refused to look at me. "You do stupid stuff like this all the time!"

_Well, she's not wrong._ I retracted my hand and just curled into my seat, searching for something else to say. "So… Why aren't we moving?"

"The bridge is busted. The only other one has too much traffic, and the car is on it's last legs, so I drove us here and waited for you to wake up." She sniffed, "I figured you could float us across."

I nodded, "Yeah, I could." I opened the door, and noticed that it was badly dented in. "What happened?"

Andi sighed, "Edward got backup. Some kid named Jace, who apparently can destroy bonds between atoms."

"The painting guy?" I raised my hands, and the car creaked and groaned as I began floating us across the river.

"Yeah." She stuck her head out the window, "Where did you hide that anyways?"

"In the spare tire slot." I wobbled a bit, but managed to keep it steady.

"You hid _the painting_ in the tire slot? That thing is practically a DaVinci and you stored it with a dirty tire..." She shook her head, "You've got no respect for art."

"I have plenty of respect for art. But only for art that isn't made by people trying to kill me." We were halfway across the river, but my vision was starting to go hazy. The car started to drop, and I strained, raising my arms and forcing the car to float higher. "So, you actually got away alive?"

"That's what's funny." I saw her start combing her hair, "They actually let me go. The painting guy, who by the way is called Jace, told me to get you and go."

"Really? And the Queer-" The car dropped a few feet but I caught it before it fell too much. "Edward let you walk away?"

"I don't think he could have stopped Jace…" She reached inside for a brush, and continued with her hair. "You sure you can make it?"

"Yeah. I can do it." I grunted, forcing the car forward. As soon as we were over land, I let the car drop, exhausted. I rolled off the roof and hit the pavement. _Need… metal…_ Luckily, there were other cars in sight, which I quickly stripped of metal.

"So… You leave the hubcaps, the tires, and the interior." Andi sat down next to me and gave me a kiss on the cheek, "It's a good thing those don't cost too much."

I rolled my eyes, "Hey, maybe I should redo the metalwork on the car."

"Don't push yourself." I felt her start kneading my shoulders, "You just fought an epic battle and levitated a car over a river. I think you should relax."

I leaned into the massage, "Relax, huh? Shouldn't we… get somewhere safe? You know, not the middle of a street?"

"Car's pretty much busted," Andi admitted. "I'm surprised I was able to drive it away." She hit a nerve and I whimpered. Despite DUP slaying, ass-kicking, and all around badassery, Andi still gave amazing massages that melted me into a pool of butter.

"What the hell happened to my car?!" I looked over to see a middle-aged hispanic man (with briefcase and three-piece suit) Looking at the spot where his lexus used to sit. It took him all of two seconds to notice us and funnel his rage in our direction. "Did you two see who did this?"

I shook my head, grinning. "No sir." His face only grew more red, and he pointed an accusing finger.

"You did it. You're one of those freaks, Aren't you?" He whipped out a cellphone, "I'm calling the DUP."

I burst out laughing, "Good luck, buddy." This seemed only to incense him, as he angrily jabbed the phone and held it up to his ear. "Hello? I'd like to report conduit activity-" He stopped mid-sentence, and his face fell noticeably. "What the hell? The number has been disconnected?" He redialed, and I practically saw steam coming out of his ears when he got the same response. He angrily glared at us, "What did you do?"

I rolled my eyes, "Just like you normal people. Blame the first innocent conduit you see for your problems." I got to my feet and placed my hand on my car, and began redoing the metalwork, filling out the dents, and replacing the entire chassis. _At least the engine is fine._ I stepped back to admire my work. _Shiny._

Andi sighed, "Now I have to do the paint job again."

"You ARE conduits!"

I turned around, "Really? You're just now getting this?" He looked like he was about to reply, but he blanched and took a step back. Then, he turned around and ran into his house. A faint, strange sound filled the air, and I turned to see what looked like a pink stream of light heading in out direction. "What the heck?" The noise got louder and I squinted, trying to make out what seemed to be… _A person? A conduit that controls light?_

"That's definitely a person," Andi agreed, stepping forward.

I turned to look at her, "But… I didn't say anything."

She just smirked at me, "I can read you like a book, you know."

I opened my mouth to protest, but the light had reached us, jumping up and off a building before landing in front of us. The pink faded, and I saw who it was. He had long black hair that was hidden beneath a light red beanie, and brown eyes that practically glowed with had on a jean vest, black jacket, plaid shirt and black pants. His sneakers were black and white, and I noticed he had a chain wrapped around his wrist, which also sported tattoos. He clapped his hands together with a smile, "So, you're the new conduits in town?"

I snorted, "What makes you think that?"He shrugged and grinned, "I don't know, uh, maybe the fact that I just watched you fly a car across the river? Cool power, whatever it is. You think I could…" He reached out, "Borrow it?"

Immediately I snatched my hand away and moved back a few steps. "Like hell," I snapped. "You're another one of those damn Empaths, aren't you?"

"A what?"

I rolled my eyes. "Someone who can absorb more than one power. The last guy I knew burned out."

Deslin leaned away from me, "Burned out?"

"He tried absorbing three powers at once and literally exploded." I winced, "Not a pretty sight." Delsin now looked very unsure whether he should touch me or not. "Exploded. Huh. Well," he began again, "I wouldn't want to explode."

I rolled my eyes, "Just grab my hand already. Worst comes to worst we level a few city blocks."

"A _few_?" Andi exclaimed, "Oh no. You're waiting till I'm a _few_ blocks away before you try something this colossally stupid." She looked at both of us, "What?"

Delsin and I shared a look. "Is she always like this?" He asked.

"Ehh, no," I shrugged, "She's usually more relaxed. But, then again, I did almost get myself killed today. She's pissed."

Delsin chuckled, "I know that feel, bro. Fetch has been pissed at me before…" He whistled, "And let's just say I _wish_ I could have slept on the couch." Now that made me snort with laughter.

"I hear you, bro." I reached out and slapped him five.

* * *

><p>"Well that was unexpected." I looked at my hand, over to Delsin, and then back to my hand.<p>

He was looking at his hand as well, confused. "At least we didn't level a few city blocks."

"So, wait." Andi looked between the both of us with a bewildered expression on her face; "You two just touched… and no explosion?"

"No explosion," We said at the same time. I looked up, "Is it wrong that I'm a little disappointed?"

"No, no." He shrugged, " I mean, unless you're disappointed that we didn't blow up the city."

I frowned slightly, "I was at least hoping for sparks."

Delsin tilted his head and rubbed his temples,"Maybe it's... prolonged contact?" I shrugged, and we reached out and awkwardly grasped each other's hands. We just sort of held hands for a bit, and I shrugged. "Not working."

Delsin shook his head, "No, no it's not." We let go, and Andi gave a longing sigh. "It's too bad," she said with a borderline dreamy smile, "You guys would make a hot couple." I facepalmed, and Delsin put his hand on my shoulder, "Women."

"Agreed."

* * *

><p>So apparently Delsin's got one hell of a kickass mansion. It has a garage, thank god, so we parked the car inside. There's three floors. <em>Three floors.<em> Fuck mansions, this is a palace as far as mansions go. There's literally everything and anything you could want here: Traning room, rec room, game room, home theater, bedrooms (with door locks, _DOOR LOCKS!_), indoor pools, two fully stocked kitchens and so much more. I got to meet Fetch who made delicious eggs with her lasers. Apparently they just recieved this place as a "gift".

"A gift?"

"Yep." She was blasting a skillet full of eggs with lasers, "Some "mysterious benefactor" just gave us the keys." She looked over with a smirk and shrugged, "I sure as hell wasn't gonna complain."

"Damn straight." I was spread out on a couch, legs dangling over the end, and with an earbud in, listening to Steel Drum. "Some random person wants to not only give me a mansion, but pay all the bill and keep it stocked with food? I'm one-hundred percent down."

"That's exactly what I said. They even got the hookup on some very koality chowder." I could literally hear the "koa" in her "quality". I suppressed a laugh and settled on a grin, "So, would you say that their _chowdah_ is very _koality_?"

She looked up from her eggs and brandished her spatula in my direction, "I don't talk like that."

I just offered her my most innocent smile, "Sure."

"Listen up. My eggs are pretty damn good." She resumed blasting said eggs with lasers while waving her spatula at me, "I'd go far enough to say they're damn amazing. I don't cook that often, because I'm not a goddamn housewife. I got enough on my plate cleanin' up dealers." She flipped the eggs before continuing, "No one's making me share my eggs. I choose to do so out of the kindness of my heart. So can can take your shitty accent and shove it up your ass."

I clasped my hands over my heart, "Abigail, such language!" I pretended to swoon on the couch.

She smiled back and dished up the eggs onto two plates. "Eggs are ready." I jumped up off the couch and scrambled to pull out a chair at the table. Fetch laughed, "Despite all that talk, you want the eggs pretty bad, huh?"

"I'm hungry." Without waiting, I began shoveling eggs into my mouth by the forkload. Let me tell you, those eggs are the best I've ever had. "Oh my god," My eyes widened, "PleasefeedmetheseeverydayuntilyouhavetocallanambulancebecauseIOD'donyourdivineeggs."

Fetch smirked, "So, you like em?" I nodded enthusiastically before shoving more of the heavenly food into my mouth, causing her to laugh. "Well kid," she reached over and ruffled my hair, which would normally prompt a punch in the face, "You're all right."

I finished the eggs and gave her hand a good-natured slap, "Don't touch the hair."

"Why not? It's an afro. I can't mess up an afro." She reached out, but I batted her hand away again.

"It has nothing to do with messing it up."

"Oh?" Fetch leaned forward, "What is it then?"

"Honestly?" I shrugged, "It's one of my kinks. Any sort of playing with my hair is a turn on."

Fetch chuckled, "Good to know I'm not the only one."

"What?"

"What?"

Awkward silence reigned in the room, and I cleared my throat; "So, you said you kill drug dealers?"

"Yeah! Yeah, drug dealers, I kill them, yeah…" Fetch was twirling some hair around a finger, "Uh, Why?"

"Do they have money?" I stretched out a hand, and my amp (attached to my bag) floated over to me.

"Yeah, yeah, lots of money…" She looked up, "I'm guessing we should go get some?"

"It would help, yeah.

* * *

><p>I was perched on the edge of a building, Fetch right next to me. We were watching a group of men in tracksuits, standing around and smoking next to a blue Civic. "You <em>sure<em> they're dealing drugs?"

"Did you not see the duffel bag full of cash?" She was fiddling with a necklace, which seemed to be made out of neon jewels that kept changing colors.

I sighed, "So why not just steal the cash?"

"Cause then we won't blow up the drugs."

I opened my mouth just as a stereotypically nondescript white truck pulled up and backed into the alley. They began unloading bricks of green, and I unsheathed my amp. "Party time." Jumping off the edge, I dove towards the ground, swing my amp at it as soon as I made contact. The concrete cracked, and metal surged outwards in all directions, throwing tracksuits across the street and down the alley. Fetch landed lightly beside me in a flow of blue neon light. "You really take all the fun outta this, you know."

I sheathed my amp and shrugged, "Can I help that I'm efficient?"

She laughed and tore open the trunk of the Civic and tossed me the bag of cash. "All yours, big guy." I caught it with a smile, and opened it to see stacks on stacks of one hundred dollar bills. I gave Fetch the thumbs up, and she turned her attention to the truck. "Time to set it ablaze."

"Woah,woah!" I jumped in front of the truck. "You are not burning _all_ of this."

Fetch looked surprised, "Why not?"

"It's weed, man!" I hopped into the truck and peeled back some saran wrap on a brick and gave it a sniff. "And it's dank as hell!" I unzipped the duffel bag and began stuffing bricks inside. "Wasting weed, man… wasting weed."

Fetch looked skeptical as I struggled to zip the bag shut. "Are you really gonna smoke all of that?"

"Not all at once." I shrugged, "I'm from California, so I did have easy access in high school." I looked around at the rest of the truck, which was all bricks of white powder, "You know, it's funny. Didn't this state just legalize weed?"

"Uh, I think so." Fetch looked antsy, "Come on, let's just torch this stuff."

"Alright." I hopped out of the truck, "Care to do the honors?"

"With pleasure." She charged up a ball of Neon between her hands, then let it fly into the truck, completely annihilating the contents. I smiled, raised my hand, and slapped her five, as we started walking away. Fetch ran up the side of a building, and waited for me as I launched myself upwards. "That was fun."

I grinned, "Yeah, it was."

She seemed to relax, and let out a laugh, "And it definitely helped me forget about the hair thing."

I facepalmed, "And you just reminded me." In response, she gave me a friendly slug on the shoulder and grinned, "Ah, it's not all bad. At least we can confide in each other about our kinks now, right?"

I raised an eyebrow, "I liked you better when you were threatening to kill me over eggs." I got a laugh for a response. She then looked at my duffel bag, at me, then back to the duffel bag.

"You're not really gonna smoke all of that, right?"  
>"I'm gonna try, Abi." I thrust my hands in my pockets and strolled along the roof like a cowboy, ducking under her fist in response to being called Abi. "I'm gonna try."<p> 


	6. Chapter 6: The Day After

I looked up at the ceiling and exhaled smoke. On my way back "home", I picked up a vape with an herb chamber and an oil chamber. It was the next day, and there's nothing better than a celebratory wake and bake. I felt like I was swimming through molasses when I raised my arm to break off some more of a brick when Andi came in. She saw the duffel bag, full of weed and money. She sat down next to me, reached for my vape, and took a long hit. She exhaled, and closed her eyes in pleasure. "So you hung out with Fetch."

"How'd you know?"

"She busts drug dealers." She pointed to the bag, "And that's where you got the cash and the kush." We both started laughing, for no reason.

"Cash and Kush sounds like a rap group," I said in-between bursts of laughter. Andi was bent over double.

"But with a K! A K!" We both started chanting, "Kash and Kush! Kash and Kush!" before dissolving into another fit of laughter. Andi started tracing star patterns on my leg, "Oh my god, I'm a lightweight." She took another hit, and I watched as she held her breath. When she finally exhaled, her eyes were completely bloodshot. "Whoa…"

"You guys busy?" Delsin poked his head in the room, coughed, and pulled his shirt up over his nose.

"No, no. We're good." I stood up, wobbly, "What's up?"

"Uh, dupes. We're gonna hit a huge station they've got around here." He saw me wobbling, "Are you sure you're alright?"

"He's fine." Andi stood up, using the bed as support, "He just needs metal to flush it from his system." She just drained the bedsheets of all color, fixed her hair and grabbed my bag for me. "Let's go."

* * *

><p>One set of silverware later, we were making our way to the other side of the city. I launched up and over a building, "So what's the deal?"<p>

"We're going to meet Eugene," Delsin answered, as he launched using his concrete. I followed, wondering what this Eugene would be like. I didn't expect an angel the size of a small building to rise up in front of me.

"WHY HAVE YOU CALLED UPON HE WHO DWELLS?!" The angel boomed, spreading his arms and looking like he was about to rain fiery justice down upon us.

Delsin laughed, "Eugene, you can drop the angel act." The angel shimmered away, and was replaced with a nerd in a hoodie.

"Is that a Heaven's Hellfire t-shirt?" I asked.

"Uh, y-yeah." he pushed his glasses up, "D-do you play?"

"Pfft. Do I play? Do _I_ play?" I crossed my arms, "I'm the proud owner of a level 59 Warlock, subclass Starwalker, with a full set of prismatic starlight gear and Astialoth's Promethean Spear. I led the guild OverClock3D and it was amazing."

"No way!" Eugene's eyes grew wide, "You're LunarFlight?"

I nodded with a smile, "Damn right. The dupes took my gaming rig, though." I shrugged, "I haven't had time to rebuild. I'm pretty sure everyone's forgotten about me in six months."

"Pretty sure? Your disappearance was one of the greatest mysteries _in_ Heaven's Hellfire." He rubbed his hands together eagerly, "We gotta get you set back up-"

"Eugene?" Delsin interrupted with a smile on his face. "Dupes."

"R-right. Sorry."

"He's freaking adorable," Andi whispered. "I just wanna squeeze him!" She squealed softly.

"What about me?" I protested.

"You?" She smirked, "I don't think we should be publicly discussing the things I want to do to you." She winked and ruffled my hair. I caught Fetch looking at me with a _What the Fuck_ expression on her face, and I shrugged.

"Okay, now that we're all here," Delsin began, pausing for dramatic effect, "We're basically gonna go in and blow stuff up until nothing left is explodable. Got it?"

"Sounds good, Chief." I saluted, "So where is this place where we need to blow stuff up?"

Delsin pointed left, "Thataway. It's covered in concrete and yellow, can't miss it. See ya there." He dashed off in smoke, leaving the rest of us to follow. Eugene jumped off the building and became the Angel, Fetch chased after Delsin in a flow of blue neon, I launched myself and Andi flowed artfully along with me, flying into the air with a trail of ink.

"So this is just cleanup, right?"

I nodded, "Yeah. Since Augustine's no longer around, the DUP's falling apart. You did talk to Delsin while I was gone, right?"

"Yeah." We ran and jumped to the next building, and I used my steel thrusters to give myself a boost, "He took her down by himself… but he used two powers to beat her." I frowned, "He cheated."

She laughed, "It's alright, you almost had her."

"Stupid bitch hit me in the back of the head with a boulder," I muttered as I launched again.

Andi cracked a smile at my resentment, "You win some, you lose some." She looked ahead and smiled, "Here's your chance to get some payback." I looked forward and saw four giant concrete spires, rising towards the sky. _Alrighty then._ I stopped just before the gates, and put in my earbuds. Prayer of the refugee by Rise Against queued up, and I raised my hand to fire a rocket as soon as the first note hit.

_Warm yourself by the fire, son,  
>And the morning will come soon.<br>I'll tell you stories of a better time,  
>In a place that we once knew.<em>

I ran forward and launched into the air, firing a rocket at a guard tower, completely destroying it.

_Before we packed our bags  
>And left all this behind us in the dust,<br>We had a place that we could call home,  
>And a life no one could touch.<em>

I fired shrapnel left and right, taking out dupes. I fired a rocket and blew up two apc's while launching toward one of the concrete towers.

_Don't hold me up now,  
>I can stand my own ground,<br>I don't need your help now,  
>You will let me down, down, down!<em>

Landing on the tower, I ignored the bullets flying into my body and ran to the middle, where I wrenched the core from the middle of the communications unit, and blasted it till it exploded. I quickly absorbed the energy from the blast and the resulting shards, then launched to the next tower.

_Don't hold me up now,  
>I can stand my own ground,<br>I don't need your help now,  
>You will let me down, down, down!<em>

I caught a rocket in midair and was thrown sideways. _Great, another shirt ruined._ Dodging bullets and concrete grenades, I pulled out my Amp and launched forward, clubbing dupes left and right.

_Down!_

I slid under a robed Commander, knocking him into the air, and quickly spun around to whack him in the back with the Amp. After flying a short distance, the charged shrapnel I'd attached to his back exploded.

_We are the angry and the desperate,  
>The hungry, and the cold,<br>We are the ones who kept quiet,  
>And always did what we were told.<em>

"TAKE THIS YOU BASTARDS!" Sheathing my Amp, I threw both hands above my head.

_But we've been sweating while you slept so calm,  
>In the safety of your home.<br>We've been pulling out the nails that hold up  
>Everything you've known.<em>

Everything metal started flying in my direction. Bullets, vehicles, armor. It all began to swirl above my head in a huge vortex.

_Don't hold me up now,  
>I can stand my own ground,<br>I don't need your help now,  
>You will let me down, down, down!<br>Don't hold me up now,  
>I can stand my own ground,<br>I don't need your help now,  
>You will let me down, down, down!<em>

I let loose a ferocious yell and sen the scrap tornado flying directly at the troop quarters, carving a swath through any opposition.

_So open your eyes child,  
>Let's be on our way.<br>Broken windows and ashes  
>Are guiding the way.<em>

I watched as the tornado tore through one of the concrete towers, reducing it to rubble. _Huh. I didn't even know I could do that._

_Keep quiet no longer,  
>We'll sing through the day,<br>Of the lives that we've lost,  
>And the lives we've reclaimed.<em>

I watched as another tower exploded in a burst of light, and saw Fetch and Andi run out of the dust.

_Go!_

Another tower exploded in a plume of smoke and video, as Delsin and Eugene left the scene.

_Don't hold me up now,  
>I can stand my own ground,<br>I don't need your help now,  
>You will let me down, down, down!<em>

I started advancing towards the center, jumping left and right and firing rocket after rocket.

_Don't hold me up now,  
>I can stand my own ground,<br>I don't need your help now,  
>You will let me down, down, down!<em>

I slammed my fist into the ground and sent a pulse of metal spikes, skewering any dupes that remained close. Jumping, I met up with Andi and we spun around in a dance of death, firing ink and shrapnel, with Andi swinging her fists and myself swinging my Amp. We began to enclose the dupes in a circle, with smoke, video, neon, metal, and ink combining in a symphony of destruction.

_Don't hold me up...  
>(I don't need your help, I'll stand my ground)<br>Don't hold me up...  
>(I don't need your help)<br>No! No! No!  
>Don't hold me up!<br>(I don't need your help, I'll stand my ground)  
>Don't hold me up!<br>(I don't need your help, I'll stand my ground)  
>Don't let me down, down, down, down, down!<em>

The song came to a close and I pulled out my earbuds and surveyed the damage. In about three minutes we had reduced what was once a fortress to a pile of rubble and bodies. "Good job, guys." Delsin wrapped his smoking chain around his wrist with a grin, "We took them down a few pegs."

"Woot woot!" Fetch pumped her fist in the air,"This is what you get, you DUP bastards! We're coming for ya!" She grabbed Eugene's fist and tried him to pump it too. Andi turned to me with a big smile on her face, "This is the best I've felt in a long time."

I nodded, "Hell yeah." I slammed my fists together with a twisted grin, "Payback's a bitch." Everyone laughed, and we all started to make our way home, before the news cameras showed up.


	7. Chapter 7: Go ask Alice

We were actually stopped by a news van on the way home. I would have jumped over it, but Delsin stopped me, "It can't hurt to answer a few questions," He said, with a twinkle in his eyes. "Besides, the fans need their daily dose of Delsin."

Before I could respond with a sarcastic retort, the newsman was shoving a microphone into Delsin's face and pelting him with questions. I instead turned to Fetch with a grin, "Delsin sounds like a dangerous drug, Abi. Why haven't you gotten it off the streets yet?""

"Call me Abi again," she growled. I ducked under a playful punch, and sidestepped to avoid a kick.

Eugene couldn't resist chiming in, "I-It's because she's the one who uses it most!"

Fetch stopped, a shocked look on her face, and I felt laughter threatening to overcome me. I settled for a smile, and fired another shot, "Fetch… You're not addicted to Delsin, are you?" I made my facial expression one of pure horror, "I can't believe it!"

"It's always the quiet ones," Andi added with a smirk. Fetch looked like she was trying to decide which one of us to kill first. Her hands were blazing with neon and I swear I could see smoke coming out of her ears. Thankfully, the newsman started pestering her with questions, and the threat of having my hair singed off with lasers quickly disappeared. I reached over and gave Eugene a high five.

"Glad to know you got my back," I said with a chuckle. His face lit up, and he pushed his glasses back up on his nose with an impish grin.

"G-glad to have it." He fixed his glasses again, "Now we should get you set back up in HH. Your guild has not been doing well. Mel0n0logy has been-"

"Mel0n0logy?! That stuck up bastard!" I hissed angrily, feeling blood heat my cheeks. "I never liked that fucker, but he was a good paladin."

"Like I was saying, you gotta get-"

A microphone was shoved into my face and the reporter started talking at me: "And what was your role into today's events?"

"Today's events?" I put a hand on my chest and blinked rapidly, "You don't mean to say… I'm a Conduit?" I feigned outrage, placing a hand to my forehead. "Good sir, I am most grievously offended." The reporter was taken aback with his mouth hanging in the shape of an "o". He bounced back like a champ, though.

"So you had nothing to do with the devastation at the DUP barracks?"

I rolled my eyes, "Look, Kojak, I was joking. Did you _not_ see the giant scrap tornado that demolished a concrete tower?" I raised my hand and let metal swirl around it, making sure to smile for the camera. I waved, letting thin sheets of steel float in the air. "All me, buddy."

"So you feel no remorse for killing the soldiers?"

"They're _not_ soldiers." I narrowed my eyes, "Soldiers fight to protect. The DUP fights to imprison. That's the difference, and anyone who says otherwise has obviously never spent six months inside Curdon Cay." I pushed the microphone away from my face to forestall any other questions and turned away, nodding to Delsin and the others. "See ya back at the House." I launched straight up the side of a building, not bothering to look back. The wind rushing against my face and whistling in my ears helped calm me down. _No one has any idea what happened in there… I'm going to kill every one of those dupe bastards, on sight, every damn chance I get._ I grabbed the edge of the roof and hauled myself to the top, before running to the next one. I figured Andi would be fine without me, so I pulled out my phone and looked for a bookstore. _I need a new copy of LoTR and the box set for Armageddon's Children…_ Luckily there was a bookstore a few blocks away. I took a running jump, and headed east.

* * *

><p>I opened the glass door, hearing the little bell jingle. Looking around at the signs, I made my way to the fantasy section. I walked among the shelves until I reached the T's. Selecting a LoTR anthology, I opened it and began reading. <em>When Mr. Bilbo Baggins of Bag End announced that he would shortly be celebrating his eleventy-first birthday with a party of special magnificence, there was much talk and excitement in Hobbiton.<em> I couldn't help but smile as I lost myself in the quaint world of Hobbiton. I sat down, and continued reading in the quiet bookstore. _Wish I had some coffee_. I could smell some coming from somewhere so I got up and followed my nose. I found a small Starbucks, bought a Venti (three creams, no sugar) and sat down in a puffy couch.

"You read Tolkien?" I frowned and looked up from my beloved pages. _Oh, shit. _White hair, gray eyes, and paper-colored skin. _Shit._ The same slightly creepy smile, the same trenchcoat and overstuffed backpack full of books. _Shiiiiiiiiit._ It was the crazy book lady from Curdon Cay. She seemed to notice my panic, and gave me an oddly comforting smile. "Relax. I'm not going to bite you."

"You sure?" I scooted as far as I could into the opposite corner of the couch. "You nearly killed me last time."

She rolled her eyes, and began rummaging through her bag. "Right. Look, if I wanted to kill you I'd have left you with the C4."

"Sure…" I nervously gulped some scalding coffee, "So, no bombs this time?" My eyes darted back and forth as I looked for escape routes. There was a big glass window that was practically screaming at me to crash through it and get the hell out of here.

She looked at me quizzically, "I always _have_ bombs. It's just about whether or not I choose to detonate. What's up with the shirt?"

I looked down and realized that my shirt was mangled and shredded beyond repair. "It's a fashion statement." _This is probably why the guy at the counter looked at me weird. _

Alice looked up from her bag, amused. "What's the statement? I'm homeless and I know it?"

I couldn't help but grin, "No. It's more like "I attacked the DUP and all I got was this ripped up t-shirt."

"Well, if you don't want to look like you just crawled out of a dumpster, I can help you out." She dug deeper into her bag; I could see that her entire arm was inside, but it looked like there was still more space. I leaned over her shoulder, interested, as she pulled out a book. It was a ratty old paperback with a red cover and the words "To Clothe a Beast" on the front.

I raised an eyebrow quizzically and sat back in my seat with my arms folded. "I'm not an animal."

"But you need clothing," She said with a smile, "and I guess I owe you one for almost blowing you up." She opened the book, and the pages began turning on their own. She faced the open book towards me, and there was a bright flash of light accompanied by a swirl of paper that struck me in the chest. Oddly the light was warm and comforting, and the paper was soft and smooth. After a few moments, the multi-colored light retracted and the paper swirled back into the book. I looked down and couldn't help but smile. She'd given me a bright blue shirt with the White Tree and Seven Stars emblazoned on the front.

"Now _that's _a shirt." I rubbed the fabric between my fingers, satisfied with the replacement. "How'd you do that?"

"Ah-ah." She tapped the side of her nose, "A magician never reveals her secrets." My phone went off before I could reply. I pulled it out of my pocket and opened my messages. It was Andi.

_Where'd you run off to?_

I quickly tapped a response, _At the bookstore w/Alice._ I quickly snapped a picture of Alice and sent it to Andi. It wasn't long before I heard a ding.

_Wtf, didn't she try 2 kill us?_

_She apologized,_ I texted back. _Plus she made me a bitchin' shirt. _I snapped a glorious selfie so Andi could bask in the radiance of my dazzling smile. Also so she could see my shirt, I guess.

_Ha ha. So we're cool now?_

_Dunno, lemme ask._ I looked over, "Hey Alice, We're cool now, right?"

She smiled, "I can't promise that there won't be any repeats of what happened at Curdon Cay. But for right now we're good. I doubt you can say the same for the other people in here though. My little 'stunt' nearly gave some of them heart attacks."

I chuckled, "They should have seen my scrap tornado." I returned my attention to the phone, _Yeah, we're good. Sort of._

_Sort of in a good way or bad way :L_

_Good way I think_

_K. When u comin bak?_

_Soon I guess. _I glanced at the top of the screen, _Maybe an hour._

_Maybe sooner ? I've got a surprise for you ;)_

My heart skipped a beat as I read the last message. I quickly turned to Alice, "Igottagobyethanksfortheshirt" and ran out the door, tossing a wad of cash at the clerk sitting at the front desk. I've never ran so fast in my life.


	8. Chapter 8: The Converted

Chapter 8

The Converted

I practically crashed through the door to our room, "I'mherearewegettingnakedorwhat?"

"Um, no." Andi put down her sketchbook and rolled her eyes, "Not every 'surprise' is necessarily sex you know."

My face fell, and she laughed and patted me on the head. "C'mon you big baby, let's get down to the garage." She must have seen my eyes light up because she rolled her eyes again and flicked my nose in annoyance. "And no, we're not going to bang in the garage either."

I lowered my voice and grinned suggestively, "You sure about that-"

She narrowed her violet eyes, "One hundred percent sure. Don't make me put you in the doghouse already." She left the room without another word. I bent down, picked up what was left of my pride and followed.

I made it to the garage, pride only slightly damaged, and opened the door. "Holy shit!"

The car was completely pimped, with a new stereo, neon blue underlights, high-tech dashboard and a steering wheel with a ton of buttons I couldn't wait to press. Andi leaned on the car with a smile, hands in the pockets of her hoodie. "You like it?"

I walked around the entire car, "I love it. You even got the windows fixed!" I threw my arms around her and kissed her, "You are _the_ _best_ girlfriend ever."  
>She smirked, "You're damn right. Wanna take it for a drive?"<p>

"Yes." I ran around to the drivers side, yanked open the door, and slid inside. The leather on the seats was smooth, and cool to the touch. I noticed there were buttons for seat warming _and _seat cooling. Seriously? Seat cooling? Holy shit, man, most people just turn on the AC. Seat cooliiiiiiing! I looked for the keys, "Yo Andi, where are the-"

"Keys?" She opened the passenger side and handed me the keychain with a grin, "Don't drive too fast. You don't have your license and the last thing we need is some poor cop trying to arrest you."

I chuckled at the image. "I'd just absorb the handcuffs and drive away."

"_And_ start a police chase. Real life is _not _GTA, and we don't need the hassle of being wanted." She leaned in and gave me a peck on the cheek before closing the door and heading back upstairs, "And for the love of god, don't scratch the paint."

I laughed and started the car, feeling the engine rumble. I peeled out of the garage and raced down the street, windows open, blasting music and annoying every single person who I drove past.

It'd been three hours and I'd only gotten into _five_ drag races. It's a good thing I could practically make the car fly or I would have gotten arrested twice. Can't say the same for my fellow racers but oh well. I pulled over at a McDonalds and went inside, wishing there was In-N-Out in Seattle.

"Hi Welcome to McDonalds, how can I help you?" The cashier gave me the "I hate this job but I need it so I have to pretend to like you" smile and I smiled back.

"Yeah lemme get a large sweet tea." I leaned forward as he punched buttons on the register, "Job sucks, huh?"

"Yeah." He frowned, "But I need it."

I nodded, and handed him a stack of hundreds. "Keep it."

His eyes nearly exploded out of his head, but he nooded and stuffed it in his pocket. "That'll be one dollar please." I paid him with a smile, and grabbed my tea. I went out the door and was heading to my car when I noticed.

"Unbelievable," I muttered to myself. Someone had busted in my window and was trying to steal my radio. I calmly strolled over, "Hey, man, not cool."

The figure in the hood whipped around, caught in the act. "Give me your wallet."

"Whoa, what?" I looked the thief over, "And what're you robbing me with? You gonna hit me over the head with my radio-" Their fist flew into my face and I went crashing through McDonald's glass window. I groaned and rolled over. _Shit, I think he broke my nose… How did he break my nose? No one hits that hard, not even the Queer Scotsman._ I picked myself up, set my nose, and rushed out after the thief who had my radio tucked under their arm. "COME BACK HERE! I'M GONNA PAINT YOUR BRAINS ALL OVER THE ASPHALT!" I unslung my Amp and launched right at the thief. I caught up to them in an alley and my first swing collided with their head, sending them sprawling. I landed on top of them and started punching them in the face, "DON'T YOU EVER TOUCH MY CAR AGAIN YOU BASTARD!" Each word was punctuated with a punch, and I pulled back to punch them again when a blur of motion caught my eye. I whipped around and fired shrapnel at the blur, and narrowly avoided being hit with a trashcan. Random objects started throwing themselves at me: Boxes, cans, bottles. A dumpster even came my way, but slow enough so that I simply sidestepped it. The thief was rolling on the ground in agony, and I hauled them to their feet, ripping off the hood. What I saw was not what I expected.

A girl, probably a few years younger than me. Not that I felt any worse about punching her, but still. Frosty blue eyes and stark-white, feathery hair that was cut short. Her skin was unbelievably white and blood was running from her nose, but it was a light, icy blue and a lot thicker than blood should be. That's what grabbed me about her. "You bleed blue?" She didn't answer, and I let her slump to the floor just as a bottle hit me in the face. _Ah! Goddamnit!_

"Leave her alone," A very ominous sounding voice said from the end of the alley. I turned to see another hooded person, standing with their arms outstretched. "Or I'll be forced to hurt you." Another few items floated in the air around them, mostly discarded bottles, and I couldn't help but laugh.

"Oh, no, please! Don't throw anymore bottles at me, that's my one weakness!" I fell onto my knees in mock supplication, "Anything but that, please!"

"You think this is funny?" The voice said, quavering. "I'll… I'll kill you if you don't leave right now!"

"Pfft." I got up and dusted off my trademark grayish-purple jacket. "Look, kid, you're some kind of Conduit, I get that. But just because you're on the streets doesn't mean you steal people's radios," I paused and hooked a thumb at my chest, "Especially mine. I just got the windows redone, too. They were all busted out…"

"I'm not a Conduit!" The voice protested.

I raised an eyebrow, "Really."

"I wish I could be a Conduit…" the voice stated, then stopped. "No! What am I saying?! Look, just let her go or else." The bottles whirred noisily, but the voice itself sounded scared, confused. I took a step closer, deciding to risk it. "How old are you? Twelve, thirteen?" I sized the figure up, "You're barely 5'3."

"What? I'm 15! I mean… I'm warning you!" A bottle zipped by my head, but I dodged it with ease.

"You can throw bottles, but you can also move plastic trashcans, cardboard boxes, and even a metal dumpster." I took another step, "What is your power, anyways?"

"STAY BACK!" The hands thrust forward and I was knocked back a few steps. I quickly recovered and strode forward, grabbing the shadowy figure by it's wrists.

"No! No, no, no! Let go of me!" There was no more menacing, thundering voice. They sounded more like a shrieking five-year-old. I quickly manacled their wrists together and threw back their hood. Surprise surprise, it was a little girl. This one looked much younger, I had guessed right. Her hair was blonde, in a ponytail, and her skin was a rich brown. But her eyes were honey-golden and if I looked closely, so were the veins running under her skin. _She reminds me of a tiger's eye stone._

"Iris," The girl behind me croaked. "Run."

"No!" She tried to cross her arms but my crude shackles stopped her, so she just stomped her feet. "I'm not leaving without you, Opal!"

'Opal' coughed, and more blood spurted from her nose. "Don't you get it? This guy… he's a full Conduit. There's nothing we can do to stop him. Please," she turned her head to face me. "I'm begging you, let her go."

I nodded and released the little girl from her handcuffs with a flick of my wrist and she bolted over to Opal, hugging her and crying. Opal weakly hugged her back, and I couldn't hear what she was saying to Iris. I waited patiently, regretting my sudden outburst of anger. _I feel like Hitler now, Jeez._ Opal eventually managed to push Iris away, but the little girl refused to go more than a few inches away from her. Iris glared at me, "Wh-whatever you do to her, y-you're going to have to do to me too," She said with a sniffle.

I buried my face in my hands and groaned. "I'm literally Hitler right now."

"Yeah you're a big fat Hitler," Iris said, plucking up her courage. "You're a meanie and I hope you get hit by a bus."

I looked up and rubbed the bridge of my nose, "I've been hit by a bus before, Iris. I'm still here."

"Well then… Then I hope someone hurts you!" Iris spat back.

"Not likely to happen, not unless you know the Queer Scotsman or his artist friend." _I still have that painting in my trunk… I should do something about that._

"Wh-who?"

I sighed, and sat down on the concrete. "Nevermind. Look, Iris… I'm not going to hurt you, I promise."

She sniffled again and wiped her eyes, "Why should I believe you? L-look at wh-what you did to Opal…" She was on the verge of breaking down into tears again, and I quickly started talking;

"I'm not going to hurt either of you. I just got pissed that Opal busted my car… My girlfriend got it all tricked out for me and when I came out and saw her stealing my radio… I got pissed. Punching me through a window didn't help either." I looked over at Opal, whose face was swollen, bruised and puffy. "I'm sorry."

Iris narrowed her eyes, "Apology not accepted."

"Iris…" Opal protested.

I raised a hand to silence her. "No, it's fine. I screwed up pretty bad." _As evidenced by your face._ I winced, thinking about it. "I can help heal Opal, if you let me."

"You're not going anywhere near her, you meanie!" Eyes blazing, Iris sprung up to defend her sister/friend, but Opal reached out to stop her. I approached, slowly, and stood in front of Opal. _Okay, I've done this before. It's not that hard._ I stretched out a hand, and waved it upwards. Iron Sand swirled around Opal, quickly lifting her to feet. As it cleared I smiled, _Nailed it. _I wasn't sure how the healing power worked, but it worked great. You couldn't even tell that I had nearly beaten Opal's face into a pulp. Cue the internal wince.

Opal gingerly touched her face, and started in shock. She looked in a grimy windowpane, and wonder shown in her eyes as she realized that my healing worked. "You see, Iris? This is the power of a true Conduit." She said it reverently, and to be honest it kinda creeped me out. She turned to face me, "Thank you, Prime."

I rubbed the back of my neck, embarrassed and creeped out all at once. "It was nothing, really. You don't have to call me prime, either. My name's Vince."

She beamed at me, "Well thanks, Vince. I forgive you for almost beating my face in earlier. Sorry about your radio. See ya around sometime." She gave me a peck on the cheek, put an arm around Iris, and started walking away. I was nearly too shocked so say anything, but I recovered like a boss.

"Wait."

She turned around with a smile on her face. "Yeah?"

"What type of Conduits are you?" I asked. "Iris is a telekinetic and you're super strong… I've never seen anything like that before."  
>Opal laughed, and it was a good, genuine laugh, full of mirth. "We're not Conduits. I don't have super strength, I have 'Tactile-Telekinesis'," She said the words proudly, "but yeah, Iris is telekinetic— to an extent. "<p>

"Well, if you're not Conduits, then what are you?"

"Converted." She turned around and the two walked away without another word, leaving me to figure out how I was going to explain to Andi what happened to the car.

"Stop _right_ there, girls!" I heard a feminine voice shout and whirled around to see a girl who was roughly my age. She had a slight French accent which was accompanied by healthy-brown skin and silver makeup on her eyes and lips. Opal and Iris slowly turned around and practically winced when they saw who it was. _Great, this just get's more interesting by the second_.

"I couldn't agree more," The new girl commented with a smirk in my direction.

_What?_

"Yeah, that's the reaction I usually get." She added, walking past me towards the two girls.

_What reaction, I didn't even speak_!

"You didn't need to."

_She can read my mind…_ I facepalmed.

"Well done, Sherlock!" She gave me a dazzling smile, but there was something in her multi-colored eyes that suggested the sarcasm behind it.

I rolled my eyes, "Well luckily for me I read books and happen to know a way around that." _I am the circle and the circle is me, I am the circle and the circle is me, I am the circle and the circle is me, I am the circle…_ Lame as it sounds, if you repeat that enough it becomes mired in your subconscious, and "drowns out" the noise" of your other thoughts. Right after I read _The Knife of Never Letting Go _I tried that for about a straight month. Now doing it again was like slipping on a glove.

The new girl frowned at me. "Stop that."

I laughed, "Yeah… no. I like my privacy."

She huffed, "It's annoying. It's a buzzing in the back of my head that won't go away."

"Then stay out of mine," I shot back.

She gave me another dazzling smile, "You're going to be one hell of a problem, aren't you?"

I shrugged, "Unfortunately, it seems that way."

Iris and Opal had been edging away, but the girl snapped her fingers. "You stop that. Here, now." They meekly obeyed, and came over to stand slightly behind me. Iris traced patterns on the asphalt with her toe, "We weren't doing anything bad, Ms. K, we promise."

"Nothing bad, hmm?" She crossed her arms, "Then why were you stealing this man's radio?"

_Well shit, she is a mind reader._ She didn't seem to hear my thoughts so I guess the circle trick was working.

"You know why?" Opal spat. "Because we need the money more than he does. We're living on the streets, Kristil! We've got to take care of our own. You can win all the poker matches you want, but the truth is that some of us _still_ go hungry at night! I don't know about you, but I think we're more deserving of the money then some rich-boy-conduit who-"

"Whoa whoa whoa," I interjected, stepping between the two of them. "Ladies, please." I turned to Opal, "I'm not rich. I just happened to kill drug dealers and take their money. If you were smart, you would have thought of that, instead of trying to steal a radio from anyone." I chuckled, "You guy won the lottery for bad luck, though. You managed to break into the only car owned by a Prime Conduit in town."

"_And _get your face pounded in afterwards _which_ endangered Iris," Kristil asserted. I gave her a death glare followed by the thought _Shut the hell up, okay?_ She narrowed her eyes in response. I turned back to Opal, "So next time, think about who you steal from. You have to be smart about it."

Kristil smiled, "Yes, you… Wait, what?"

"For example," I began, as I held up a black faux leather wallet, "I was able to pinch this off Kristil right after I pulled the circle trick."

Kristil narrowed her eyes even further, "Amusing." Her voice was dripping venom, but Opal's eyes sparkled with mirth and Iris was on the verge of laughter.

"Know your mark," I continued, grinning widely, "For example, if your mark is a stuck up bitch-"

Kristil mumbled something to herself and Iris let out a squeal of laughter before clapping her hands over her mouth. Opal was outright grinning now.

"-Then she assumes that no one will ever be able to one-up her." I snapped my fingers and the lid to the dumpster flew open. I tossed the wallet behind me and it landed right in the middle of what used to be someone's food. I snapped again and the lid slammed shut, sealing itself with metal. "That makes it easy to grab, say, her wallet." I turned around and bowed to Kristil, causing Iris to lose all self-control (which was pretty impressive for a twelve-year-old) and burst into peals of laughter. Opal had a hand over her mouth and was laughing silently as she wiped away tears of mirth.

I stood up, brushed my jacket off, and smirked at Kristil. _Hope you like dumpster diving, bitch._ Her eyes widened and when I turned around I could feel them boring holes into my neck. "Now who wants some food? All this stealing is making me hungry."


	9. Chapter 9: Street Kids

Not five minutes later we were sitting in a Five Guys, munching on burgers, and chatting like old friends. I had the feeling that Kristil hadn't forgiven me, though, so I made sure to keep the circle chant going.

"So she set off the C4?" Kristil asked, before starting on her second burger.

"Did you die?" Iris asked, looking up at me with huge golden eyes.

I allowed myself a laugh, "Yes Iris. I died."

She gasped, before realizing what she said. Her face promptly turned bright red, and she crossed her arms. "Meanie," she muttered.

Opal laughed and ruffled Iris' hair. "It's alright kiddo. Honest mistake."

I took a bite of my burger, "But yeah, she does. Somehow, though, we got sent outside." I shivered involuntarily. "All I remember hearing was the sound of Andi screaming."

"Who?" Opal asked, biting into her fourth burger.

Kristil's face brightened, "Why, his girlfriend of course."

I rolled my eyes, _How the hell did you do that?_

_I'm not telling you,_ She replied, sounding as triumphant as she could. She smiled at me and went back to eating her burger.

I gave her the mental equivalent of the middle finger and turned my attention back to Opal and Iris. "Yeah, my girlfriend. I dunno what Alice did, but… It shook me up pretty bad." I noticed that Opal was frowning, but when I caught her eyes she started and began attacking her burger with a vengeance.

_Oh my… It seems Opal's got a crush on you,_ Kristil teased.

_What? Ten minutes ago I was beating her face into a pulp._

Kristil rolled her eyes and took a sip of her soda, _And then you healed her. You're a Prime Conduit, a powerful one at that. You've got money, more importantly the ability to provide, and you're handsome. You're a lovable rogue and she's entranced with the abstract of you._

I shrugged, _She's pretty hot. She seems nice, despite the fact that she trashed my car, and I'd definitely give her a shot if I hadn't already found the love of my life._

_Human after all._

_What?_

She shook her head, _You really do love her, don't you?_

_Yes._ I took a french fry from her tray, _But that's none of your damn business._

_Touche._

I finished my burger and took a swig of my shake. "But we made it out alright, and nothing really interesting happened until the Queer Scotsman showed up."

"The who?" Iris asked. "Can I have another burger?"

"Iris, that was your fifth one." Opal nudged her, "Be polite."

I waved a hand, "It's alright." I handed Iris a twenty, "Go wild." I waited until she left, then turned to survey the two Converted that I was sharing lunch with. "Okay, so I've got a few questions: One, what does Converted mean? Two, are there more of you? Three, where are you staying, and four," I paused for dramatic effect; "Why the hell do you guys eat so much?"

Opal shrugged and turned to Kristil who replied, "One, we were converted from normal humans to… this. Forced to have powers by someone who calls himself Kessler."

"Two," Opal added, ticking off the number on her fingers, "There are plenty more of , we stay at the Flea,"

"And four, some of us need to eat so much to sustain our energy. Of course, me and a few others don't need to but some of the first to be experimented on were Opal and Iris have this eating 'disorder' as a side-effect. They put away twice what any normal person does, and right after they use their powers," Kristil shrugged, "They can eat quite a lot."

"Yeah, look at me." Opal gestured to her collection of discarded burger wrappers, "And all I did was punch you through a window. Iris, well… she used her powers much more than she usually does." She smiled, "I'm just glad she's alright."

"Is she your sister?" I asked. "You two seem awfully close."

Opal smiled and ran a hand through her hair, "We're not related by blood, but she _is _my little sister." Her eyes glowed an eerie blue as she continued, "And I'll beat the shit out of anyone who says otherwise."

I nodded; the idea of wanting to protect someone was definitely something I understood. "So what's with the eye thing?"

"The eye what?" As soon as I said that, Opal's eyes reverted back to their normal frosty blue. "What eye thing?"

I looked directly into her eyes, trying to see if they'd flash blue again. "Your eyes, they were just glowing blue. It might be some sort of subconscious reaction to something." She tried to look away, but I took her chin and gently guided her eyes to mine. "Start talking about Iris again."

"Okay, sure." Opal took a deep breath, "She's my little sister, and I'm going to protect her no matter what. I don't care what I have to do, if it's for her, I'll glady-" Her eyes flared blue almost immediately.

"Whoa." Her eyes were glowing, emitting some kind of blue light. It was almost like watching Aang go into the Avatar state, but with less bending. I tilted her head left and right, but the light stayed the same. "That's cool."

"Uh, what're you doing?" Iris plopped back into her seat, "Why are you touching-" She saw Opal's eyes, "Whoaaaaa. Opal, your eyes glow!"

"I'm telling you I don't know what you're talking about," Opal, said, slightly irritated. The blue was gone as soon as she said that, and she was just staring into my eyes again. There was an awkward few seconds before I remembered I was holding her chin. I quickly yanked my hand away, embarrassed.

"It's triggered by strong emotions," I concluded, sitting back in my chair and hoping my tan would hide the blood rushing to my face.

_So you do like what you see then,_ Kristil taunted in a singsong voice.

_Go to hell._ I kicked her under the table, and then groaned inwardly. _It's like I'm back in middle school, for God's sake._ Thankfully, my phone went off, and I checked it. "Sorry guys, Andi's calling. I gotta take this." I noticed that Opal's eyes flashed again when I said that, but quickly reverted. I answered the phone, "Yo."

"WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK, VINCE?!" I winced and held the phone away from my ear as Andi continued to yell, "THREE GODDAMN HOURS AND YOU TRASHED THE CAR?!"

"Not exactly, you see-"

"WHAT I SEE IS A BUSTED WINDOW AND A MISSING RADIO! THIS IS WHY WE CAN'T HAVE NICE THINGS, I SWEAR!" I could hear her kick something in the background, "PLEASE TELL ME YOU CAUGHT THE THIEF!"

"Well, yeah, but-"

"BUT NOTHING! I'M COMING OVER THERE AND I'M GOING TO STOMP THEIR ASS INTO THE GROUND!" I could just picture her violently thumbing end call. I lowered the phone and looked over at the three Converted, "You guys might wanna leave. Andi's coming over here to stomp Opal's face in."

"What?" Opal stood up quickly, "She knows who I am?"

"Well, no, but she did promise to find the thief and, I quote, "stomp their ass into the ground"." I winced at the thought, "She _did _just get the car fixed." I heard the doors behind me slam open, and I turned around to see Andi in all her glorious wrath.

"Who?" The word fell from her lips like molten lava, sizzling and popping on the cold, polished floor.

"Wait, before you do anything," I took a deep breath, "I caught Opal stealing the radio and then I got punched through the window of McDonalds but then I caught up to her and beat her to a pulp-" I took another breath, "But she started bleeding blue and then her little sister Iris started throwing bottles at me and then she started crying and then I felt bad so I healed Opal and then Kristil showed up and she's psychic and now we're sitting down and eating Five Guys 'cause they got no money and live on the streets." I took another breath and was about to start talking again, but Andi put a finger to my lips, silencing me.

"Actually, I have a lot of money!" Kristil chimed in cheerily, waving a thick wad of cash in the air, _How the fuck? Her wallet is back in the dumpster!_

Andi growled at me before taking a calming breath, "So… 'Opal' stole because she was starving?" I nodded silently, and Andi seemed to relax. "Well then I forgive her."

My jaw hit the floor. "You… forgive her?"

"Duh, idiot." She laughed, "We've done the same thing before, remember?" She looked around behind me, "I'm guessing one of those girls is Opal?" She pointed behind me.

"Yeah, the one with the white hair."

"Huh." Andi tilted her head, "You know who she looks like?"

I shrugged, "Nope. Who?"

"Elsa."

I rolled my eyes at Andi's fixation with Disney characters while she grabbed a seat from an empty table and moved it to our table before sitting down. If anyone, she looked slightly like Alice. I still don't understand the 'blue blood' bit that gave her that pale skin, but I'd ask about that later. Right now, some different questions need to be asked. Taking a seat, I carried on with my burger while glaring at Kristil— see? Men _can_ multi-task! _Where did you get that money from?_

_Don't worry,_ _**I'm**_ _not the pickpocket here_.

_Your wallet is back in the dumpster._

_Maybe, _The french girl smirked, _but I took out my money long before you stole it._

_So you knew what I was going to do?_

_You __**really**_ _underestimate my power. Of course I knew. Your circle trick worked for a bit at hiding your surface thoughts, but as long as I'm within proximity, I can dig further and further into your mind. I knew what you were going to do before even __**you **__did. In fact, I've stayed within proximity so long that within a few seconds, I'll be able to see your memories… not that I'd want to._

_You'd better not_... We were looking pointedly at each other now, engaged in our silent conversation, _So why not say there and then instead of going through the humiliation? _I asked.

_I'm not going to stoop to your level, Vincent Tate, you can bask in the glory of your pathetic little victories while I know that you've accomplished nothing_, Her eyes flashed green, just for a split-second, _Your attempts to humiliate me are nothing. And I've been through too much to give any less shit about them._

_I'd probably apologize if you weren't being such a bitch._

_I think I have every right to be a bitch, not that your opinion of me is relevant anyway. Your mind and mental defenses wouldn't last a second in a fight against me._

_Wanna bet?_

_I could have you vegetative in seconds. But it's not you that I'm interested in right now. Andrea Quincy has quite an intriguing—._

I mentally growled, _Touch her and I'll kill you. _

_Do you have any idea how shattered her mind is? _She gave Andi a quick curious glance before returning to our staring-match/mental-argument. _Something terrible has happened to her…_

"Am I interrupting something?" Andi asked.

"They're having a telepathic conversation." Opal whispered.

"We _were_." I corrected and Kristil gave an innocent grin.

Andi leaned over and mumbled into my ear, "You better not have been flirting…" Kristil let out a little laugh and got up from her chair.

"Girls," Her tone suddenly turned serious as she turned to Opal and Iris, "You abused my hospitality by not abiding by my rules."

"But Ms. K," Iris protested. "We were just-"

"No buts." She crossed her arms, "You must be punished. There has to be order. We do not steal, especially from other Converted or Conduits."

"Harsh," Andi muttered.

"Therefore," Kristil continued, "You, Iris, are not to be punished. I am being lenient because the theft was not your idea. Opal, dear, you are another matter entirely." She paused and tapped a finger on her chin, "I think you'll spend some time in the Pit." Opal's eyes narrowed, but she didn't seem inclined to respond.

_The pit?_ I queried.

_Yes, Vincent. The Pit. It's a nice name for a beating. It's surprisingly effective._

_Whoa, ballsy._ I sent her the mental equivalent of a slow clap, and she raised an eyebrow questioningly.

_You approve? I assumed you would have been outraged._

_Pfft. I'm impressed. You don't seem the type for corporal punishment. You could, you know-_

_Shatter someone's mind? I've done that before, dear, and that leaves them useless. Plus, the goal here is not torture, but discipline. On the note of uselessness, I'm very interested in your girlfriend's-_

I narrowed my eyes and tried to contain the thought of punching Kristil in the throat. _Don't._

She rolled her eyes and huffed, _Honestly, I was only going to point out that her mind is in a state that would leave most people comatose._

I clamped down hard on my memories. The last thing we need is for someone _else_ learning about Abstergo.

_Abster-what?_

_If you value your safety, you won't ask me that question._ She seemed to sense that I wasn't threatening her, and didn't pursue the question.

_If you insist._

I smirked, winning these mental disputes was hella fun.

_I wouldn't say you won, dearie._

I turned up the circle chant in my head.

_That does nothing._

_It annoys you, _I countered.

"Ahem," Andi cleared her throat, "Well it's nice that you two are bonding, but the rest of us don't have telepathic powers. Mind filling us in?"

"Well Vincent here is very noble," Kristil said with a smile. "He just informed me that he will take Opal's place in the Pit, as he did not think it would be fair to punish her for a simple mistake."

_You fucking bitch._ I plastered a grin on my face, "Yeah, I'm good like that." Andi raised an eyebrow and I shook my head over so slightly.

_That bitch, _she mouthed. I shrugged in response.

Opal's eyes flared blue again, "You don't need to do that, Vince."

"Eh, fuck it." I glanced at my phone, "I've got nothing better to do anyways. Let's go."

* * *

><p>We were walking down the street at a rapid pace. The sun was setting, and Andi tugged on my jacket. "So you didn't agree to protect Opal."<p>

"No. But they obviously don't know very much about Conduits," I said with a grin.

Andi's eyes widened, and she put a hand over her mouth to keep from laughing. I only now noticed what she was wearing: a deep purple sweater, with gray skinny jeans and matching Converse. It still takes my breath away; how beautiful she really is. I found myself looking into her violet eyes, which had unique flecks of blue inside. I actually walked into a streetlamp, I was so caught up in her exquisite beauty. I heard Kristil snort and Iris giggle as I rubbed my nose.

"Thinking about me again?" Andi asked with a grin. "I'm glad I take up so much of your thoughts."

"Shh," I said, putting a finger to my lips. "Not in front of the mind reader." Her response was a laugh and a quick kiss.

"We're here." Kristil announced, before disappearing into the shadow of a building. We followed, passing under scaffolding and plastic sheets. I was not expecting what came next. We entered what looked to be an old theater, but it was full of golden light. People were everywhere, and it was only a few seconds before I realized they were all kids. There were tons of stands set up, each with various items set up on makeshift stalls.

Kristil smirked at the expression on my face. "Welcome to the Flea."

"This is incredible," Andi said, as we made our way down through the crowds of kids and vendors. "It's a whole market."

"Oh, it's much more than that. It's also living quarters, a meeting place, a parliament, training area,"She stopped and held open a door. "It's whatever we need it to be."

"Iris, why don't you go find Ivy?" Opal asked. Iris nodded and skipped away, cleary glad to be home. Opal turned to me with an apologetic look on her face; "I'm sorry about this, Vince."

"Meh." I shrugged it off and headed through the door. We went down a flight of stairs into what looked to be a storage room for films. There were four people waiting for us.

"Heyyyy, Kris." A guy walked up and gave Kristil a smile which she returned with her own… well _her_ 'smile' looked more like just a few muscles moving in her face— devoid of all warmth. He had spiky black hair, uniform stubble covering the lower part of his face, violet-blue eyes (creepily like Andi's) and pale, pale skin. He looked like a twenty-year old version of Bruce Wayne (and not the borderline-weedy kind from the Nolan trilogy), and was _pretty_ ripped, enough to give the Queer Scotsman a run for his money.

"Isn't he gorgeous?" Andi muttered, just about loud enough for me to hear. My eyes widened and she gave me a devilish grin.

_Sadly, taken._ Kristil sent the mental message to the pair of us and Andi feigned disappointment. I could tell it was all an act but still…

"And so are you, Andrea Quincy" I muttered back, replying to both Kristil's and Andi's statements. Putting this discussion aside for later I busied myself by letting my eyes wander over the others. There was a girl, with sky blue eyes, freckles, pale skin, and messy black hair with blue highlights. She was wearing a _very_ tight leather jacket with even tighter looking pants and red running shoes but there was something in her eyes that made me uneasy, they looked… empty. The guy next to her had curly brown hair, brown eyes, dark skin, and a strange scar on his left arm and was wearing a muscle shirt that said _CALIFORNIA_ across the front and blue jeans with a chain hanging from his left pocket. _He looks like a blacker version of me._ The last guy was some poser with a green dyed mohawk, brown eyes, and tanned skin. He was slightly taller than me, but that was because of his platform boots. He was wearing all leather and I could feel the metal in the ink of his many tattoos resonating from his body. _Okay, right off the bat I wanna punch __**this**_ _guy._

The Bruce Wayne one walked over to me, "I'm David Cross." We were about even in stature, though he was almost twice as wide and all the muscle probably made him a tonne heavier, and I shook the hand he offered while staring him down.

"Vincent Tate. Or, at least, that's what my file in the List says." I shrugged, "But the Dupes aren't exactly a reliable source of information."

He laughed, "You can say that again. This is my crew. Nexi,"

_**My **__Crew,_ Kristil mentally interrupted.

He ignored her and pointed to the girl in leather, who grinned and bowed. "Alfie," The guy in the muscle shirt, who nodded to me... "and Ethan," who responded with a "Yo."

I offered them all a wry smile, "Charmed. Can we get on with the beating or what?"

He shrugged, "Your choice." I wasn't surprised in the least that Kristil had told him everything, so I just shrugged again, "but we usually give a day for the victim to get prepared."

_Prepared?_

_What? _Kristil's annoying French accent invaded my mind yet again, _You didn't think it was going to be just a few punches, did you?_

_You already know what I __**think**__, so cut the crap. _David must have noticed what we talking/thinking about— or maybe it was just a coincidence— because he laughed. "The Pit is further in, come on." We walked down the hall, past the old film projectors and under another plastic sheet. I was not prepared, again. There was a steel grate at the end of the hall, and between the bars I could see an Arena, Colosseum style. There was a huge ring of seats on the left with a semi-ornate viewing box in the middle, (I guess that's where Kristil and her cronies sat), a solid wall to the right, and sand completely covering the floor. Light came from the same floating orbs I'd seen back at the Flea. _Now this is totally badass._

_It's not as much fun once you're in the ring, _Kristil reminded me, her voice singsong and taunting.

_Bitch please. I always wanted to be like Russell Crowe. _I turned around, "When do I go in?" The surprised look on David's face was golden.  
>"I suppose you can go in ten minutes, that's when today's match starts. There's a weapons room back-"<p>

I waved a hand, "No need. I'll be using my Amp."

He snorted, "You want to fight with an oversized tuning fork?"

"It's stronger than it looks," Opal chimed in with a rueful smile. "I would know, he cracked me in the head with it." Everyone in the room chuckled. Andi raised an eyebrow at me and I smiled sweetly.

"So you're good then?" David asked.

"Yeah, pretty much. What're the rules again? Like, first blood, to the death, what?"

"It's till knockout," Kristil said with an eye roll. "You realize we're not complete barbarians."

_Suuure. And normal people have a gladiator arena in an abandoned movie theater._

_And what about us is normal?_ She asked before turning and leaving. David and the others followed suit, leaving me with Opal and Andi. I was about to talk to Andi, but Opal pulled me into a hug. "Thanks for taking the fall. I know that bitch set you up, but it's cool that you're doing this."

"You knew the whole time?" I asked, incredulous.

"Duh. You just met me, and sure you're a nice guy, but there's no reason for you to come and fight for me," she said as she squeezed me tighter. Andi caught my eye, and she mouthed _Hot as fuck_ at me and winked before performing some very crude hand signals.

"Yeah, you're welcome. I don't think you would have had a problem, with your super strength and all." I stood there rather awkwardly, not sure if I should hug back, but Andi mouthed _Hug back you idiot_ at me and I did. I was extremely confused, but I did, which prompted a sigh of contentment form Opal. She rested her head on my shoulder and I could feel her hot breath on my neck as she murmured something unintelligible.

"Opal?" I asked. "Fight?"

"Oh, right, right." She immediately let go and left quickly, but not before I noticed that her eyes were glowing bright blue. Hell she could have been her own flashlight. "See ya around, Vince."

Andi made her way over and sat next to me on a crappy theater seat, "Now she's hot."

"Are you kidding me?" I slid down, back against the metal grate. "You're okay with that?"

She snorted, "Hell yes, I'm okay with that. Hell, I'd bang her if I had a chance."

"You told me to _fuck_ her, Andi." I thought about it for a few seconds, "And I'm cool with that. But only if you're cool with that."

Andi wiggled her eyebrows.

I raised _my _eyebrows. "Really. _You_ are okay with the idea of _sharing_?"

She shrugged and grinned, "Only in this case, and maybe a few others. Who knows, maybe there's a threesome in our not too distant future."

I grinned, "Did I ever tell you-"

"That I'm the best girlfriend ever?" She marched over, sat down in my lap and entangled her fingers in my hair. "You could stand to mention it a _bit_ more. Now go out there and win, Maximus." She kissed me, and I closed my eyes to better enjoy the sensation of her tongue exploring my mouth. She tasted sweet and smoky, like-

"Ahem." We split apart and I took everything I had not to murder the fool that interrupted us. "One minute."

"Damn." Andi slid off my lap and I stood up, brushed off my clothes, and faced the gate.

"Good luck," She said in a singsong voice as she left the room. I took a deep breath and tried banishing the thoughts that were running wild through my head. _Calm down, Vince. Right now you gotta put on your war face. Or something cheesy like that._ The gate slid upwards, and I advanced into the arena.


	10. Chapter 10: Gladiator

**Hey everyone! Sorry for the text walls, and thanks for reading. I'd like to recommend some songs to listen to while you read this.  
>~Zeta<strong>

**Gold Dust: Dj Fresh  
><strong>**Centuries: Fallout Boy  
><strong>**We'll Be Coming Back for Yee: Hardwell Mashup  
>I can't Stop: Flux Pavillion<strong>

**Keep on reading and stay awesome:)  
>Liked the story? Please take the time and leave a review.<strong>

I heard the roar of the crowd and the crunch of the sand under my feet as I entered the arena (And left my precious jacket behind with Andi. I'm not letting that get torn up). Sure, the roar wasn't precisely deafening, but it was still hella loud. It looked like there were at least a hundred people in the stands. This was in addition to the few hundred I had seen outside at the Flea and however many were holed away in the living quarters. _This place is huge,_ I realized. _It's like a second city._ I looked around the arena for my fellow competitors, and saw none. I saw a second gate raise, and lower. I sized up my first competitor; A guy with bright yellow hair pulled into a ponytail, wearing a hoodie and jeans and carrying wicked-looking spear. When I say _spear_, what I really mean is a metal broom handle with two hunting knives duct-taped to the end of it. I laughed as he spun the spear around and showed off to the crowd, because well damn son, _metal broom handle._ The next gate opened, and out came a brown-haired girl in a red windbreaker. She was brandishing a mace-like contraption. Guess what the mace head was made of? Yep, _metal_. She had a grim determination about her, like she just wanted to get in and get out. Third gate opened, another brunette girl came out. She was in a t shirt and shorts, and brought no weapon besides a pair of brass knuckledusters.

_Well crap. She's got some kind of powers._ The fourth and final gate swung open, revealing a guy with bright blue hair and fingerless gloves. He smirked and flexed his hands, _Another one with powers then_. I unslung my Amp and looked from person to person. "Hmm." I spun it lazily in a circle, deciding who to attack first. The decision was made for me though. Spear guy lunged at Mace chick, and Blue hair took in a deep breath and exhaled blue fire at me and Unarmed. I rolled out of the way easy enough and Unarmed did the same. I ran directly for spear guy, leaving the other two to sort it out, and swung for his head, using my running momentum for an extra punch but he ducked and my Amp sailed harmlessly over him. He slammed the butt of his spear into my chest, but I grabbed it and absorbed part of the handle. I yanked him forward and headbutted him but he saw it coming and rushed forward to block. Luckily for me, he was a little too hasty and stumbled, giving me the chance to slam my palm into his chin. His neck snapped backwards with a sickening crunch of bones that resonated in the arena, and the crowd roared.

_These people love their goddamn bread and circuses. _I looked up, raised my Amp and roared. The people screamed in response and I couldn't help but notice Kristil's look of disappointment— not in me but rather in Spear-guy for not gutting me. Unfortunately for me, I was too occupied by winning the crowd to realise that Mace chick was right behind me. She bashed me in the side of the head, and suddenly I was down in the sand. _Damn it._ I pushed myself to my feet, my pulse pounding in my ears, and backflipped away from another attack. I grabbed my Amp, and swung to parry her mace. The two weapons clashed in a shower of sparks, but I was glad to see the Amp stood strong. Mace Chick drew back for another swing, and our weapons met once again; but this time her mace split into a billion tiny pieces, and she was left holding a very ruined wooden handle. The shock on her face was priceless. I just offered her a smile before punching her and sending her flying across the arena. _She'll be seeing stars for the rest of her life._ Having finished two, I turned around to face Unarmed and apparently Puff the Magic Dragon. I wasted no time in tackling them both to the ground— they were too busy to even see me coming. I rolled off Puff and began hammering punches into Unarmed. She was good though, and we traded blows before Puff tried hauling me off of her. He got a headbutt and a broken nose for his trouble. Unarmed seized her chance and and let loose with a vicious right hook to my jaw. Every time she swung her fists, I could hear a faint whistling coming from her hands, no doubt some sort of power, and when her punch hit home, I felt the bones in my face crack. Luckily, falling to the floor meant that Puff spat fire into _her _face instead of mine. I kicked Puff's legs out from under him and smashed his head with the butt of my Amp as soon as he hit the ground. Unarmed was still reeling from the fire, which would probably have killed a normal person twice over, and I seized the opportune moment. With a yell, I charged forward and delivered a massive uppercut that actually lifted her off the floor. I was again conscious of the roar of the crowd, I sheathed my Amp and raised a fist. They actually bought that cheesy shit, going wild. I laughed inwardly, and brushed the dirt from my clothes. "That wasn't hard," I murmured to myself. A clanking sound came from behind me and my gate opened for a second time. Out strolled Nexi, with an annoying grin on her face. She flicked out two collapsible metal batons , "Not bad, Magneto. But you'll never beat me."

"We'll see about th-" There was a rush of air, and a baton cracked against my face. It hurt like hell and I was nearly thrown to the ground. Nexi was standing in front of me, so I swung. My Amp hit nothing but air. Nexi was a good fifteen feet away, and spinning one baton so quickly it blurred. _Great. Super speed._

She cracked a grin, "Don't feel too bad. I'm so fast that last night I turned off the light switch—"

"—And was in bed before the room was dark," I finished. "Muhammad Ali."

Her grin got even wider. And then the punishment resumed. She was so damn fast her power could have been teleportation if not for the breeze whistling past every time she struck. She was so damn fast, in fact, that I wasn't able to establish control of her _metal_ batons. If she had my brains, she would create a vortex and suck the air out of the arena, guaranteeing her a win. But luckily for me she doesn't and was too busy showing off. She zipped around the arena and dashed in every few seconds to give me a good whack in the face, always accompanied with taunts about how much I'm like a snail. I pretended that I was trying to create a giant metal construct to stop her and every time she attacked me, I deliberately shattered it, making her think that she was doing damage. In fact, her attacks, while they stung, were really only hurting my pride. I mean, come on. I heal so fast that _bullets_ only leave scratches. I was really focused on creating a ball of finely woven metal threads in my hands. I grinned with satisfaction when the ball was done, and thrust my hands outwards. Thousands of threads shot in every direction, and anchored themselves in the walls. I laughed when my speedy opponent had nowhere left to run and found herself tangled in a metal spider's web. I walked over to where she was currently trapped, moving the threads out of my way with a wave of my hands. She was shaking her body frantically, trying to get out of the web.

I couldn't help but smirk at her pointless actions and knelt down next to her, "How does it feel to slow down?"

"Okay," She returned my smirk with one of defeat, "You got me, Prime…"

"Yep." I laughed, "Yeah, I did."

"Or maybe you didn't." She interrupted before promptly vibrating her body so fast she was vibrating _through_ the metal. But, sadly for her, I've read too many comics and simply forced the threads to vibrate with her, so she was still stuck. "Come on, Nexi. I've read enough Flash to know what's up: that's the oldest trick in the book."

"You're a comic fan?" Her eyes widened, "Oh we're gonna get along _just_ fine!" She tried raising a hand to fist-bump me but her limbs were hopelessly entangled. I laughed and I put my fist out. Unfortunately, I 'missed' her fist and instead punched her in the face, knocking her out. Oh well. Two guys wearing black masks came in to drag her limp body away and a crowd-cheer later, three more gates swung open, and out came Ethan, Alfie and a girl I'd never seen before. She could have been my twin: She was Black, with dark brown hair and a blindingly bright smile. The eyes threw me off though; they were honey colored. Kindness shone out through them, and I almost didn't want to punch her. _Almost._ I was nearly fed up with this arena bullshit and I thrust both arms towards them. "Go to fucking hell." I re-absorbed all the metal threads and fired two rockets directly at them, making sure that they would hurt Female Me less than the other two. She looked at the rockets sailing through the air, gave them a warm, welcoming smile— her eyes glowing like Opal's had, only a hell lot brighter— and... _shot them right out of the air_. She was like a female version of Scott Summers, except that her eye-lasers were the brightest blue I'd ever seen and I could feel the heat given off from where I was standing. Wasting no time expressing my shock, I launched right at Alfie, and took him down in a tackle, planning to deal with Fem-Cyclops later. He grabbed my arm, lightning fast, and all I felt was white-hot pain as every bone in it ruptured. In panic, I grabbed him by the face and fired a shot, which knocked me back and sent him flying. I plated my right arm with metal as I waited for it to heal.

Fem-Cyclops was still smiling which honestly creeped me out. Feeling my bones realign, I shed the metal plating in the form of a shot directly at Ethan. He raised one hand, which was sporting a similar glow to She-Cyclops's eyes, and shot a laser that vaporized it midair, but he didn't expect me to come rushing in behind it, Amp raised high. I brought it down on his glowing hand and my weapon sizzled and sparked but, thankfully, didn't give way, and he ended up with a broken hand. I spun on one heel to deliver a kick to the face, which he ducked. Ethan tried to counter with a punch with his un-broken hand but I sidestepped, also dodging a shot from Cyclops's twin lasers, and followed up by slamming a foot into his chest, feeling ribs give way. He tried to get up, back against the wall, but slid down, mumbling "Ivy" before passing out, hopefully in agony._Why do I even hate this guy? Maybe it's the tattoos._

Before I could expand on my thoughts, something stabbed into my back and sent me sprawling. I grit my teeth and rolled out of the way, just to see two laser beams lance into the sand. Then the pain kicked in. Searing pain from the giant burns just above my kidneys. She-Cyclops had tears streaming down her eyes and lasers blazing from them, it was hard to tell if the roaring, whining sound was from her screaming mouth or the heat of her armageddon eyes. I narrowly avoided getting shredded in two as I jumped over the twin streams and used a quick burst of Iron Sand to dash to land behind her. Still not wanting to hurt her, I hit her as gently as possible. She hit the ground and grunted, and I pinned her arms down before hitting her again. I caught a laser blast to the side of the face, but she passed out, her face immediately returning to a kind smile. _What the hell? _I barely had time for the crispy skin to heal before two hands grabbed my head and squeezed. It was Alfie, and the agony… was indescribable. My mouth opened in a silent scream; it felt like my head was being torn to pieces. Somehow, through the blood-red haze of searing torture, I managed to swing my arm back, directly into his balls. His concentrations slipped, his hands left my head, and I spun to my feet, delivering an incredibly strong backhand that made him faceplant into the sand. He punched the ground on the way down and a shock wave rippled along it, sending me flying backwards along with a huge cloud of sand. _Shit! _It felt like a good few minutes— though it could only have been a couple of seconds— before I hit the floor but I quickly flipped back up and found Alfie walking slowly towards me, he had a slight limp, _No doubt from sore balls_, I gave him a lopsided smirk lined with sarcastic sympathy. He raised his trainer a few inches and slammed it down, sending another shockwave across the ground, but I was expecting it. I ran towards the shockwave and somersaulted right over it. I dashed again with Iron Sand to build up enough momentum to deliver one hell of a punch to his chin which left him unconscious on the floor with a slightly shocked expression.

The crowd, which had remained so silent that I forgot they were even there, roared so wildly loud that I was about to cover my ears when I noticed that they were cheering for _me_. There had to be a good couple of hundred people and they were all screaming their heads off for _me. Well, it's nice to have my badassery appreciated every now and then._

My vision was blurred and my head was throbbing but... I had won. I could still feel the excruciating pain in my back and face but the crowd needs pleasing, right? So I was too busy pleasing the crowd to notice that the guys in balaclavas had dragged off the three unconscious bodies again and I even missed Kristil's venomous stare in my direction.

_That's it, right? A smiley-chick who shoots lasers from her eyes and a wannabe Avalanche, plus Alex Summers 2.0. That's got to be all they're sending._ I groaned mentally as I heard the clink of another gate open. _Give me a break here. My brain was just set on scramble and my face feels like an overcooked sausage. Oh, and there's two holes in my back. And let's not forget that my __**new**_ _shirt is practically ash at this point. _Despite my mental protest, which Kristil was probably laughing at, David stepped out from the gate accompanied by another, slightly shorter figure behind him. When the figure came into the light I recognized it as a Liger, a giant hybrid of lion and tiger… and Dave had it as a _pet_! The Liger looked so damn awesome that I was debating whether or not to kick it's ass. Sadly, I had not patience left at this point. I was more than 100% done at this point; like 5000% done. Like stick a fork in me and get out the carving knife done. Calling upon my knowledge of Guardians of the Galaxy I shot a metal tendril from my right hand which quickly wrapped around David. I lifted him off the ground and began smashing him into walls. Left, right, left, right, left, right. Each impact shook the arena and put ever-larger holes in the huge cat didn't seem to notice, it just sat there and pawed the ground, seemingly amused by my performance. I raised David up, high, and slammed him down directly into the sand. The result was a huge dust cloud. I re-absorbed the tendril and sat down, exhausted. _Still easy._

A shadow formed in the dust cloud, like a cheesy kung-fu movie. David stepped forward, sporting a bloody nose but otherwise seeming fine. He smirked, "Really? That's your best?"

"No." I forced myself to my feet and brandished my Amp. "Come and find out what my best is."

He laughed, and charged. I did the same, but right before we intersected I slid underneath him, tripping him, and caught one of his feet with my Amp. I quickly rolled to my feet and began smashing him back and forth, but he twisted his foot and slipped out of my grasp. He jumped up and punched me. I flew across the arena and made my own personal crater in the back wall. _He… hits… hard._ I landed facedown in the sand, feeling the cool grit against my skin. _I think he hits harder than the Queer Scottsman._ I tried to get up, but it seemed like all the strength had gone out of my limbs and so I lay there, glancing warily at both David and the Liger, which still seemed to be too bored to do anything but stare. I managed to push myself to my feet just in time to neatly sidestep a punch from David. I launched backwards, putting some space between us and leaving a metal pillar behind. _Range is my friend, but I'm running low on metal._ I noticed that I had landed next to one of the gates, and a brilliant idea hit me. David charged at me again, and I waited until he was about five feet away. I ripped the gate from it hinges and smashed him across… well, across his entire body. I expected him to soar across the arena and land somewhere in the stadium— not to block the entire impact by lazily raising an arm. He yanked the gate out of my grip and smashed me across the face with it and a second later, I crashed into the wall on the other side of the arena and slumped onto the ground. I opened my eyes to see the ceiling, I was flat on my back, and I noticed _something_ that was hung just below it. A net made up of metal, no doubt to try and stop someone from crashing through; result of an uppercut from David or maybe even Opal. I focused on the bolts holding up the net and waited while David slowly made his way towards me, making a show of cracking his knuckles— the crowd was roaring for _him _now. _Oh it's on now. No one steal my spotlight. _As soon as he was in the center of the arena, I snapped my hands upwards and the bolts shattered, dropping the net.

He saw the move coming a second too late and only managed to bark, "Achilles!"

The Liger— Achilles— _pounced_. I blinked and completely missed him dart (_please_ don't say that this crazy cat is another Converted with super-speed) for me. By the time, I knew what I was going on, I was already pinned down with a pair of powerful feline paws. Achilles's muscles literally bulged from his body, the perfect pet for a guy with practically-Kryptonian strength. David was entangled in the metal net but wasn't wasting any time getting out. _Oh no you don't. _I flicked a couple of fingers and a few chains broke of the net and wrapped around the Liger's back legs and lifted him into the air, swiftly wrapping around him in a cocoon that only left him enough space to breath. He had raked his claws across my chest, _completely _destroying Alice's gift, not to mention cutting deep wounds into torso. _Fuck! What happened to __**not **__being barbarians? _I could hear Kristil's telepathic-laughter at that thought and started seeing red. _I've had FUCKING ENOUGH_. I snapped my fingers and the entire net wrapped around David's neck, strangling the air out of him. He fell to his knees, frantically pulling at the chains. He even managed to break most of them, but he wasn't fast enough to stop himself from losing consciousness.

_Pure genius strikes again,_ I thought, giving an exhausted, half-hearted fist pump to the crowd, whose roars had once again come to my side, _Even though the original plan was to absorb the net and blast the pair of them with rockets. I guess necessity really is the mother of invention. _I was, again, too occupied to notice the men carrying out David and releasing Achilles to follow them out.

_I can't decide if you're extremely intelligent or just incredibly stupid and lucky._

I whirled around to see Kristil standing in the archway that was all that was left of the gate. _I only know one French person that annoyingly smug…_

_I'm not smug, I'm just cynically overbearing._ Kristil smirked, and spun a hunting knife slowly in one hand. _Though I can see why you might get confused._

_So, you're the Boss battle then, _I tried to take control of the knife and make her impale herself but it refused to budge.

_Made from onyx and ruby, _She raised the twirled her weapon around her fingers. Now that she mentioned it, the creepy-looking black and red knife looked antique too. No doubt purchased with the money she wins from 'poker matches'.

_Really. I'm going to fight the mind reader. Well, you already know what I'm going to do._ I raised my hands, and all the metal in the room began to swirl above my head. The remaining gates, jewelry, watches, phones. The crowd will probably be pissed at me but I'd stopped giving any fucks right after the Liger showed up. A flick of my wrist and it was all shredded into scrap. It was not as big as I would have liked, but it served the purpose.

_Impressive, _Kristil thought with a smirk. _But insignificant._

_What are you talking about? You can't move fast enough to dodge-_


	11. Chapter 11: Blessed

I woke up next to Andi and Opal on a bench.

"ARGHWHATTHEFUCKINHELL?!" I sat straight up and bonked heads with Opal. "Where, why, how?!" I had a raging headache. It felt like the hangover from hell. My back ached and I noticed my torso was swathed with bandages. "Fuck!"

"Vince, relax." Andi put a hand on my chest and I relaxed, my rapid breaths slowing. "You lost, Kristil used some sort of telepathic attack on you."

_She would..._ "Cheating bitch," I muttered under my breath. "Well, at least I'm out."

"I should have warned you," Opal said with a rueful grin. "Kristil never loses."

I shrugged and rubbed my forehead, "I can feel it." I slowly laid back down onto the bench, "Ugh."

Andi flashed me a smile and got up quickly. "I'm gonna go look for a new shirt for you. Don't go anywhere." She left in the room with Opal, and my headache was so bad I almost forgot what I was supposed to do. _Right…_ "Opal…" I sat up and tried to not notice how badly the room was spinning. She put out a cautious hand, to steady me. I waved her away, "It's alright."

"I'm sorry, Vince. I shouldn't have let you go in there. I would have lost in maybe the second round, and you wouldn't have had to go through all that." She hugged me again and I didn't hesitate to hug back this time, resting my head on her shoulder, because yes, it hurt that much. She tightened her grip and took a deep breath. I noticed she smelled like raspberries and mint. _Pretty nice for someone who lives in an abandoned building. I would have expected sweat and sewer, but this is nice._

"Vince… you should probably lay down."

"Mhm…" I let her lay me down on her lap, and smiled. _Comfy._ And do you know what? I almost fell asleep. Bloody almost. And then the first explosion went off. _It's always something, isn't it?_ I grumbled, got up, and started walking to the door. More explosions rocked the building as I made my way up and out of the Pit, Opal following closely behind. There were holes in all the walls on both sides, but nothing seemed to be coming through. Yet kids everywhere were screaming and running in terror. _Oh, wait. Explosions, right._ And then I saw Kristil and her crew standing in a circle with Andi while everyone else fled. She seemed to be shouting something. I could hardly believe my eyes as I saw her take a hit to the face. _Where the hell did that come from?_ I saw her duck, dodge and stab at air, before sidestepping and flipping backwards, only to dart back with her antique knife. I've never seen someone move that swiftly, save for Nexi. And then I saw air bleed. And air turned into a black-clad figure with a slender ninja-like body, a metre-long combat sword that had a dull white glow and a silver mask with thin eye-slits. _Holy shit. INVISIBLE PEOPLE! _Kristil ducked under a deadly swipe of his sword and jammed her knife into his throat, (red) blood spurted out but he barely faltered as he countered. She dodged a split-second too late and was rewarded with a gash on her hand. I sent out a quick Mag pulse and saw the skeletons light up. _Oh my god, there's only five of them._ I expected a veritable army, from the amount of damage being done. But only five including the one who lost his invisibility. The other four were working in pairs— with one female and one male in each. I turned to Opal, "Hold on." I wrapped my arms around her waist and launched us right into the circle. "Kristil! I can see them!"

"Touche! Mind helping?!" She slashed the air and another body dropped. I nodded and fired a rocket at one pair… which they dodged with uncanny ease.

_Blessed. They're call themselves Blessed._

_Right. Why can't you just 'shatter' their minds?_

_I… Don't know. I've tried but their minds… trying to enter their minds is just as dangerous as trying to jump into a vat of radioactive waste._

_Right. Great. _ "Opal, swing left, Andi, up and to the right side balcony, rocket now!" Opal's fist crashed into a Blessed's face and they was thrown backwards, only to land on their feet— barely hurt— and all of Andi's attacks missed .

"Ethan, directly ahead of you! Alfie, right!" Kristil shouted her instructions at the same time. Ethan managed to actually hit a female Blessed with his plasma beams and disintegrated her arm, but she didn't even falter as she threw a pair of grenades into the crowd, which Iris quickly deflected. None of Alfie's attacks hit, the Blessed were simply too agile. Nexi did some damage but not as much as I would have liked since she couldn't even see them. Kristil was _still _fighting the first one and neither of them had managed to get one up on the other. _There's only five of them and_ _we can't even beat them. I'm running out of metal, fast. This building is too old for me to use the foundations for fuel, so I'm screwed. Andi's pulling the ink from clothes but that won't last long._

"David, one's charging right for you! Andi, Left this time and Opal, straight ahead." I swung my Amp and saw it crush a Blessed's skull and I followed up by smashing it into his chest. His body fell to the ground and he stopped moving. _Their weakness: you need to damage their brain and heart!_ I quickly thought and Kristil's eyes lit up as she heard it, _But_ _we still need a way to make them visible…_ An idea hit me, "Andi! do you remember the Holi festival?!"

"Vince, now is not the time." Hands covered in ink in the shape of blades, she swiped frantically, trying to fight off opponents she couldn't see. No doubt Kristil was trying her best to keep her team and Andi mentally updated on where the Blessed were, but she already had a full plate even though David and his Liger, Achilles, had joined in fighting the first guy.

"No, think about it! You made that huge ink ball!" I ducked under a sword and sent a magnetic shockwave in the direction it had come from; "And then you blew it up and everyone was covered in neon colors!" I saw her eyes widen, and she fell back into the middle of the circle, "Cover me!" She raised her hands and started forming a huge, brightly colored mass of ink just below the ceiling. _Kristil, we need to cover Andi._

_Your precious girlfriend is not my con-_ I sent the the details of the plan and received the satisfaction of seeing her eyes widen. _Everyone form a circle around Andi, now!_ We closed and continued to fight a losing battle. David and Achilles were still helping Kristil, _And that means you too David! No arguing, I can handle myself. _David and his liger joined our circle, "Andi, come on!" Her eyes were screwed shut in concentration and she didn't answer me so I just fought harder. "Ivy, left, right, top! Nexi, one on your left and one directly ahead! Alfie, just maintain that shockwave wall!"

"Sheba!" I heard Kristil bark. A huge black figure jumped out from the shadows and grabbed the one visible Blessed with its powerful jaws. _Another liger!? _The size of the giant cat meant that it _had_ to be a liger but it was pitch-black and was obviously female— yet looked just as strong as Achilles. Kristil thrust her knife into the Blessed's chest as Sheba clamped her teeth around his head and _squeezed_... breaking his skull and strewing his brains all over the ground. _Two down, three to go_.

_Behind you!_ I listened to the foreign telepathic voice that wasn't Kristil's and spun around with my Amp, catching a Blessed in the side and sending her hurtling. I wasn't surprised when she landed on her feet. But who had warned me? I looked over to Kristil but she was occupied with trying to make another Blessed turn visible, it seemed you need to draw blood for them to lose their invisibility. Kristil's night-liger, however, was staring at me with glowing-yellow eyes and I could immediately tell— somehow— that it was her who had warned me. _So there's a telepathic __**liger**_ _too… this world just gets stranger by the second._

I glanced up and saw that Andi had nearly covered the entire ceiling with ink. I was just about to tell her to drop it when she did. A huge ball of rainbow colors splattered the entire room. We were all completely drenched. So were the Blessed. There was split second hang time as everyone paused, unsure of what to do. Opal was the first to lash out, knocking a male one across the room with a single punch. Everyone exploded into action, and I jumped next to Andi as we battled across the room. "Reminds me of San Francisco!" I kicked a Blessed and blasted it away.

"You and I remember that very differently," She replied as we faced another Blessed together. I was about to make a snappy comeback, but the Blessed slashed their sword diagonally across my face, from my hairline to the bottom of my jaw. I punched it away and continued fighting until I realized blood was pouring down my face. There were only three of them left, and now that they were visible, it was a hell lot easier. But they still jumped around like super-powered trapeze artists and we could only get a few hits in.

_Their knives are charged with RFI energy, _Kristil informed me when she noticed the blood, _You'll find it difficult to heal._

_Thanks for the heads up, mon ami._ I could feel my flesh slowly knitting itself back together but I had to keep fighting. _What the hell is RFI energy?_

_Ray-field-Inhibitor. It's the exact opposite of the radiation that gives you your powers. You did know that's where your powers came from? You don't need to be exposed to gain powers, but RFI's will still work on you. And us._

I knocked a Blessed's blade away and smashed it's head in sideways. _Fill me in later._ I launched forward to blast a Blessed from David, and we battled back to back. "Your girlfriend is a piece of work, you know that?"

He laughed, "I try to keep thoughts like those to myself at this point." He crushed a Blessed's skull with one hand while I threw a giant spear into it's chest, "But I've gotten used to the mind thing. It's a plus for the both of us anyways, I'll never be able to cheat." Two Blessed left.

"Really?" I started shooting bits of shrapnel sparingly, I barely had any metal left, "I wouldn't risk cheating even if she didn't have the mind powers. That knife of her's seems like it'd cut your balls off real quick."

David grinned and tossed me Achilles at a Blessed and the liger promptly tore chunks of meat out of her before she somersaulted away, "I'd never cheat on her anyways. The mind thing is more to boost her self-confidence. She's got self esteem issues."

"No way, who would've guessed?" I finally established control over the fallen's swords, it was probably difficult because of the RFI thing. The swords kept the remaining two busy enough that we managed to get even more hits in. Nexi grabbed one of the swords out of the air and used her speed to cut off the female's arm. Not that it stopped her. I sheathed my Amp and focused on controlling the swords. "The bitch is only a bitch because deep down inside she's hurting."

"That's exactly right." The tenderness in David's voice surprised me but I didn't dwell on it too long, instead choosing to invest myself in the rest of the fight.

We were all closing in on the Blessed who fought without sound, expression, or a word. Nexi stunned the female by cracking it on the head with her batons and Sheba and Achilles grabbed one ankle each. Ethan and Alfie attacked her from behind with shockwaves and lasers while blue-haired Puff the Magic Dragon blew fire into her face.

One Blessed left. Nexi twirled her batons, Kristil blew her hair out of her face and Ivy remained smiling as they got ready to rip him to bits when it spoke-

"Well now, Kristil. What a rude way to treat a guest." The voices was harsh and metallic yet noticeably human. It dripped venom and honey and made me feel repulsed but still somehow sounded sophisticated. Kristil's face went whiter than a sheet. "I can see now that you've done quite well for yourself on the streets," The voice continued, "You and your group of lackeys even managed to best five of me Blessed. You may be a failed experiment but I always knew you were a survivor."

Kristil took a deep breath, "A 'failed experiment' survived you, Monster." Her voice had lost all its confidence and smugness, she sounded like a scared child trying to desperately put on a brave front.

"Now, now. I have a name you know. It's rude to not call someone by their name. Didn't all that torture teach you manners?" _Torture?_ The Blessed folded it's hands, "But enough with you. It's the Tate I've come to see." The silver mask turned to face me. "Hello, Vincent."

I narrowed my eyes. "I don't recall meeting you."

"We haven't met, Vincent. Trust me, you'd remember." The Voice cackled maniacally, "No, I am familiar with you only because I know your father."

I could feel my heart speed up, and I tried to conceal my excitement. "My dad's dead. Should I be surprised that you can read a tombstone?" _He knows my dad? My dad's alive?_

"Now now Vincent." The voice adopted a scolding tone. "You and I both know that's not true."

"Fuck you." _Shit. Shit shit shit._  
>"My, my, such language. If Victor could hear you he'd be sorely disappointed." The voice clucked its tongue, "Oh well. I'm simply here to deliver something."<p>

"Why do I get the feeling that you were trying to deliver my fatal blow?" I said with a smirk. "Piece of advice; don't use metal to try and kill me next time."

"Oh, but that was never the plan." The Defiled raised an all white revolver, and I rolled my eyes.

"Really? A gun." I looked directly into the eyes on the mask; "You're going to shoot me. Brilliant. I wonder why no one's ever tried that before."

_Vince, you need to move. Now. _I heard fear in Kristil's thoughts, and immediately realized that I was probably fucked. "Oh Sh-"

The Blessed pulled the trigger and I jerked backwards. I clutched a hand to my chest, and looked up, in shock. "What…"

"A bullet I made especially for conduits. It's made of eighty-three different materials and charged with RFI energy. There's no way any Conduit on Earth could survive it, save for perhaps MacGrath… and me of course," I could swear the person on the other side of the Blessed was grinning, "I've just punctured your lung. And it's not going to heal this ti-"

A sword buried itself in the Blessed's head. Everyone looked at me like I was crazy. "What? He did just shoot me."

"Yes. He did." Kristil's eyes narrowed, "You should be dying right about now."

"I would be if—" I tore off my bandages, "I didn't plate myself with metal." A plate of miscellaneous metals gleamed in the light, and you could clearly see the all-white glowing bullet lodged directly over my left lung. Andi and Opal breathed near-simultaneous sighs of relief, Nexi looked impressed, David nodded and Kristil rolled her eyes. I bent over and picked up the gun, "RFI energy, huh? I think I'm keeping this."

"You're not seriou-" Kristil's eyes narrowed as she found the answer in my mind. "You're an idiot. RFI energy is anathema to you." She turned to the Blessed, who was twitching on the ground, and stabbed him in the chest. Bye-bye Blessed.

I took the holster and clipped it to my belt and slid the revolver in. "Still keeping it. This is badass, it's like a golden gun for conduits." I grabbed an ammo pouch from the body and dumped it's contents into a pocket of my backpack, "This could come in handy."

Kristil said something (probably rude) in French as I shouldered my backpack. "Well, determined as you may be to kill yourself, I must thank you for today. You saved a lot of people despite being half-beat to shit." I crossed my arms and waited for her speech to be over. She shrugged, "That's all I've got to say." She turned around, and walked away. Nexi gave me a fist bump, David a handshake and Alfie a high five as they disappeared towards the living quarters. Ethan approached me, "Thanks for going easy on Ivy in the Pit."

I nodded, on edge for no reason. _There has to be some kind of metal in this guy's tattoos._

"She's a little… different, isn't she?" I asked, fidgeting and tapping my foot rapidly against the floor.

"She… she's got some kind of brain damage from Kessler's experiments."

"Kessler? The voice?"

Ethan nodded, "Yeah. The Blessed must be his puppets or something. I never found out exactly what happened, because she doesn't talk anymore, but… it must have been bad. Kristil's doing all she can to help her, but she's barely made any progress." He grimaced before clapping me on the shoulder, "Thanks again."

I grinned half-heartedly. "Hey, you might wanna get your tattoos checked out. I think they've got lead, maybe even arsenic in the ink."

He raised his eyebrows, "I didn't tell you I had-"

"I can feel them," I interrupted. "And something about them sets me on edge. Seriously man, get those checked." He nodded and shuffled off. Opal was next up, with a hug. She wrapped me in and squeezed me as tight as she could. If my bones weren't three times stronger than a normal human's I might have lost a few ribs. "Thanks Magneto." she whispered. I would have said you're welcome, but then she kissed me. I kissed back, and discovered that she tasted like raspberries and mint too. She quickly broke the kiss and walked away, heading to the left side of the building with the others. I guess they were going to the living quarters that I'd never seen. Andi wiggled her eyebrows at me as we walked outside. "You move fast."  
>"You'd know," I countered with a smile. "I still can't believe you're okay with that."<p>

"I can be generous with you, Vince. Especially for someone who wants it that badly." She gave me a peck on the cheek and a slug in the arm, "Now let's get some food. I'm starving."

"Someone who wants me badly…" I turned and looked directly at her, "Wait. Are you pimping me out?"

She laughed and grabbed my arm, pulling me down the street. " You're totally my bitch forever, Vince. C'mon, there's a Japanese place downtown that does decent sushi." I didn't argue as we left the destroyed building. Andi knew her sushi.


	12. Chapter 12: Gifts

**Sup?  
><strong>**So I may or may not have been sacrificing sleep to write new chapters of saying.  
>Keep on reading and being awesome! ~Zeta<br>Also quick update on Lavender Flight: Third chapter's in the works, but no eta on that. (Because I'm currently dumping all my creativity into Twisted Metal while also considering/planning writing a Frozen fanfic. I just need to flesh it out a _liiiiitle _bit more. It's gonna have some crazy cool shit, if it ever gets off the ground... FML. There's just not enough hours in the day.)  
>Also also, You guys should be reading The Second Kessler and Glass &amp; Hellfire along with this... All I'm gonna say is prepare to meet Ash for the first time, and prepare to meet Edward again very soon.<br>**

I woke up in the middle of the night for no reason. I blinked a few times as my eyes adjusted to the moonlight streaming in through the window. I sleepily groped around for Andi only to find her missing from the bed. Immediately I sat up and looked around, blinking the sleep from my eyes and banishing thoughts of kidnappings. It was far more likely she was on the roof so I grabbed sweatpants and an undershirt before poking my head out the window and hoisting myself up. I scaled the side of the building quickly and quietly as a breeze gently ruffled the curtains below me. I found Andi on the roof, huddled in a ball, knees curled up to her chest and head between her knees. I slowly walked over and sat next to her. I didn't say anything, just put my arm around her and pulled her into a warm hug. The sobs came softly at first but eventually she was shuddering and wheezing for breath. It killed me that all I could do was hold her. She refused to share what exactly Abstergo had forced her to do… the most I knew was that they strapped her into some kind of machine. Still, I held her close and traced shapeless patterns on her back while whispering comforting nothings into her ear. "I've got you, baby. I've got you. Nothing will happen to you, ever. Nothing, nothing. I swear, nothing. I love you, I love you." She didn't answer and I didn't expect her to. We just sat there, rocking back and forth. A tortured angel and a broken man, clinging to each other like we were drowning in the moonlight.

* * *

><p>I woke up again when the sun's rays hit me full on in the face. I groaned and raised my hand to block them, "Andi."<p>

"Hmm. Turn the light off, Vince." She snuggled closer and buried her face in my chest, "I'm trying to sleep."

I smiled and lowered my chin onto the top of her head, "I'm sorry, baby. I can't turn off the sun."

"What?" She looked up and blinked as the sun hit her face. "Shit. Tell me we didn't fall asleep on the roof."

I chuckled and tucked some loose hairs behind her ear, "Looks that way, doesn't it?"

"Damn." She stretched and yawned, "C'mon, let's go down." I nodded and we both walked to the edge of the roof. I let Andi go down first, and used my thrusters to float to the window. I made my way to the bathroom, making a pick out of metal. _When I sleep I end up with a frohawk. Time to restore the afro to it's natural glory. _I grabbed my toothbrush and with one hand squeezed toothpaste onto it while the other hand tried to restore my fro to a somewhat circular shape. Andi came in behind me with a change of clothes and turned on the shower. "You wanna dig around the place and see if you can find a curling iron and a blow dryer?"

I shrugged but provided no verbal answer as my mouth was currently full of toothpaste.

She pursed her lips and batted her eyelashes at the mirror, "Do it for me?"

I gave an eye roll and a grunt as my response. She grinned, pecked me on the cheek and got into the shower. The door slammed and I heard the water start as I spit into the sink. I left right as she started humming the chorus of 'Feel so Close'.

* * *

><p>"Ay yo Fetch!" I banged my fist on her door. "Fetch!" I heard a great deal of mumbling and cursing from the other side of the door which eventually opened a crack. Her eyes were bloodshot and her hair was disheveled. She looked furious and I swear I saw one of her eyes twitch.<p>

"You better have a goddamn good reason for waking me up at eight in the morning, kid."

"Andi needs a curling iron and a blow dryer, so I was wondering if-" The door slammed in my face. I heard a cacophony of crashes, slams and swearing before the door reopened. Fetch re-opened the door and thrust a blow dryer at me with a murderous glare.

"There. She's on her own for a curling iron. And if you wake me up again before 11:00 I will blast you into tiny little chowder chunks." The door slammed in my face again and I heard Fetch mumble something before everything was quiet. I turned around and ran into Delsin in the hall. He looked surprised to see me, whether that was because it was so early or because I was right next to Fetch's room, I didn't know. I could make a good guess, though."What're you doing down here?"

I shrugged. "Getting a blow dryer for Andi." I looked at the door, and back towards Delsin. "I wouldn't go in there. She threatened to blast me into-"

"Little tiny chowder chunks?" His eyes were glowing with suppressed mirth. "Yeah, I get that a lot."

"You guys…" I rubbed the back of my neck, awkwardly. "You guys don't sleep together? I kinda figured, you know..."

"We do," he acknowledged with a shrug. "I don't usually stay for mornings though, obviously." He looked at the bright blue blow dryer in my hands, "You need a curling iron too, huh?"

"Yep. But I'll be damned if I'm going in there." I stepped aside, "You're welcome to try."  
>Delsin puffed out his chest, "And try I will. Into the she-dragon's lair I shall bravely venture." He marched to the door but paused with his hand on the doorknob, turning to look at me with a grave expression on his face. "Don't tell her I called her a she-dragon." With that, he disappeared inside. I was laughing softly to myself as I waited in the hall. I didn't hear anything for a little bit until a resounding crash came from inside. I winced as I heard Fetch get up and start screaming at Delsin. The door opened and he flew out, a curling iron in hand. I caught the last scrap of her rage fueled, sleep deprived sentence.<p>

"I DON'T CARE IF YOU'RE THE _INDIAN _IN THIS RELATIONSHIP! WAKE ME UP AND I'LL FUCKING SCALP YOU!" The door slammed so hard I saw the wall crack. Delsin facial expression was stuck in between outright laughter and abject terror. Silently, he handed me the curling iron. We stood there, observing the door and the foreboding cracks in the plaster. Delsin was the first one to break the silence.

"You know, I've never had _anyone_ threaten to scalp _me_." His lips twisted into a wry grin and he chuckled, "It's usually the other way around. Then again, I haven't said that since like middle school."

I grinned back, and placed a hand on his shoulder. "I owe you one, bro."

He nodded, "Could you do me a favor, then?"

"Sure."

"Stop killing people."

I narrowed my eyes involuntarily. _I know where this is going._ "By people, I'm guessing you mean the DUP."

"Yes. Well, no. Sort of." He sighed and ran a hand through his hair and under his beanie. "I mean stop killing _most_ of them. I can understand the necessity for lethal force," He raised a finger, "But you should think about what you're doing before you do it. I'm not going to tell you to only kill someone unless there's no other option, but… It's be nice if that's what you did." He sighed again and folded his hands "We've got a lot of public face to save. Conduits, I mean. The world still fears us, sees us as freaks. I get that I've done a lot of good, but…" He turned his head to look up at me, "We need to show them that we're better than the Dupes. We need to prove that we're not mindless killers, that we're just as human as they are. Well, human," He watched smoke curl up from his palm and smiled, "and then some. But do you get what I'm saying?"

I nodded, slowly. "I get you. It's just… You've never been to Curdun Cay, so you don't know what it's like. They did things to me, but more importantly they tortured Andi." I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, clenching my fists so tightly that the nails bit into my palms and drew blood. "They experimented on her, they did things… She won't talk about it, but last night I found her on the roof crying like a baby. Kristil said her mind was so shattered that any normal person would be comatose. I don't know what happened, but Abstergo and the DUP put her through hell."

Delsin raised his hands, "Whoa, slow down. Kristil? Abstergo?" I sighed and briefly explained my exploits yesterday. I could tell he was having trouble processing the fact that super powered kids lived in an abandoned theater and they had a modern day gladiator arena, but I kept on until I finished.

"So… While I was out cleaning up Dupes you were fighting super-teens in a makeshift colosseum?" He rubbed his forehead, "And I thought my life couldn't get stranger." He watched me with curiosity, "That David guy had a pet Liger?"

"Yeah." I laughed, "I'd show you the scars but I heal pretty damn fast."

"And then you were attacked by invisible super ninjas that claimed to know your father?"

I held up a finger, "One that claimed to know my father. And then I buried a knife in his face, after he shot me, and took the gun."

"The gun that supposedly kills any conduit?" He tilted his head, "I'd like to see that."

"It's upstairs. I can show you later, but right now..."

He grinned understandingly. "Right. Later. But you still didn't explain what Abstergo is."

I waved a hand, "Don't ask me that. Please." He must have seen the look in my eyes because he dropped it. There was an awkward silence and for once I had nothing witty to say.

Delsin coughed. "So, you gonna take that stuff back to Andi?"

"Oh. Yeah. Thanks." He nodded and I turned around to head back up the stairs.

* * *

><p>I opened the bathroom door and was hit by a wave of steam. "Andi, I got you your stuff."<p>

"Great," came her reply. "Now come hop in the shower with me."

I did a little happy dance and shed my clothes as fast as I could. I jumped into the shower and let the heated water wash over me. Andi was standing with her back to me and she handed me a loofah and body wash. "Found this already in here. You need to clean up."

I sniffed the body wash, "Peaches? You want me to smell like Peaches?"

"Better than sweat and sand," She said with a smile, turning around. "I could always help you clean up…" I had no response as I let my eyes wander over every inch of her body. She realized and let out a snort of laughter. "It's nothing you haven't seen before."

"You get more beautiful each time," I whispered. She flicked my nose and leaned forward to give me a gentle kiss, but stopped at that.

"You'd better get cleaned up."

I closed my eyes, summoned all of my willpower, and started scrubbing my chest with the peach soap. Andi chuckled and turned around, resuming washing her hair. "After you finish, can you get my back?" She asked with a coy smile.

I just scrubbed faster.

* * *

><p>Thirty minutes later and I smelled noticeably better. Andi had finished her shower and was now going through the process of drying her hair. I was digging through the closet till I found appropriate clothing. Black jeans, black combat boots, a grey army-style jacket and a white shirt that I could get Andi to cover in ink.<p>

I went down to the garage to see if I could do anything for my once-again-ruined car. And imagine what I felt when I found it completely repaired with a brand-new paint job— the words "Bane of Shadows" painted in beautiful cursive along one side and a silver and purple dragon that was so badass that it made Smaug look like a pussy bitch. _Andi. Is. The. Best! _

Upon closer examination I noticed between the headlights was a chrome Decepticon symbol and a small note attached. I pulled it off and read it.

_How have your adventure's been, Vince?  
>I thought that one shirt was a pretty lame gift to try and make up for transporting you out of Curdun Cay with a horror book.<br>So, when I saw your car was wrecked, I thought: why not?  
>I hope you appreciate how hard it was to paint that dragon.<br>And there's another few presents for you and your friends in the trunk.  
>If you thought it was hard to paint a dragon, it's a lot harder to create a pocket dimension in a car trunk to make it larger.<br>Oh and and the car now has a top speed of about 400 kph.  
>Enjoy,<em>

_Alice in Wonderland. _

I read it again... And again. And… again. _Why couldn't she put that in MPH? KPH, like I know what that is. I'm American._ Then I dashed to the back of the car and popped open the trunk. The first thing I saw was the painting of the Scotsman, Origami chick and 'Jace' which I picked up and placed to the side. The rest of the trunk was filled with boxes and there were so many that I had no idea which one to open first. I looked between all of them, and picked one that seemed to be emitting a strange energy. It was almost calling to me, and the feeling got stronger as I tore it open and saw that it was one of those weird stones she'd taken from Curdun Cay. _For you and Andi to share. It's called a Blast Core, and I think you'll like it._ I stuffed the core in my pocket, and picked up a muted lavender guitar case.

_Sweet, a guitar!_ I tried to flip the latches open, but they wouldn't budge. I peeled off the note and read it.

_Sorry, Vince. This one's for Andi. You can keep the case though._ I tried to open it a few more times, unsuccessfully, before putting it on the ground and going through the rest of the boxes. I peeled a note off a box wrapped in Flash wrapping paper. _For the fast one._

I laughed to myself when I saw what was inside. _Okay, now that makes sense._ Inside was a suit that looked a lot like the classic red and gold Barry Allen wore in the comics. Except this one was black and silver, and looked smaller. Which makes sense, I'm pretty sure Nexi and Barry don't share measurements.

I put it back in the box and opened another note. _You love clothes, right? I made you some. They're also virtually indestructible, because you seem to go through shirts like I go through books. _I took the first item out of the box, a shirt that had Tesla and Edison fighting, Tekken style. I closed my eyes and tried to rip the shirt. Nothing happened. I opened them and tried to tear it with all my might, but still not a single thread out of place. I was tempted to run upstairs and shoot one of them with the 'golden' gun, but decided to just throw the shirt back into the box. The next few boxes had more clothes, all supposedly indestructible.

_I can't believe it. Christmas came early._ I had only a few boxes left now, and I grabbed a note off a small one wrapped in ice-blue paper.

_For your __**other**_ _girlfriend. There's no way that can possibly end well, you know._

I rolled my eyes, _Everyone's a critic._ I opened the box. All that was inside was a simple bracelet made out of steel with a rectangular blue stone in the middle. I put the lid back on, and re-wrapped it carefully. I was down to my last three boxes. I read the note on the one wrapped with silver paper and back ravens flying across it. _I understand the need for privacy, especially in your own head. Thought and Memory. _ I opened the box and inside was a simple leather cuff with a steel plate on it. It was engraved with strange runes which I guessed were Norse.

_Hmm… Thought and Memory?_ _Oh, I get it. Hugin and Munin, Odin's ravens of legend. Hah, Kristil eat your heart out._ I immediately put it on my right wrist, my left being occupied by a watch. _Hella._ I opened the second to last box, which had a note that simply said _For Kristil._ Inside was a raggedy old stuffed animal. I couldn't tell, but it looked like a lion.

_Weird._ I closed that box and moved onto the last one. I opened it and inside was a small vial that was labeled _drink me_. _For Ethan, but Ivy's the one who needs to drink it._ I shrugged and put the box back, and gathered all the ones related to myself and Andi into my arms, including the guitar case, before heading upstairs. I managed to make it without dropping anything and I kicked open the door, "Andi! You've got mail!"

"What?" She turned around, topless. "Close the door, come on." I kicked it closed and dumped all the boxes onto our queen-sized bed. "Check it, you got a guitar and a 'Blast Core', whatever that is."

"Who is this from?" She asked, picking up the case and to my dismay, easily flipping open the latches.

"Alice in wonderland. You know, the creepy book lady-" I saw her expression of shock as she stared at what was in the guitar case. "What?"

"It's a sword." She hoisted it out of the case almost reverently, "A sword." She picked up a note and quickly started to read it. "The hilt and guard are made of of black zirconium. The blade, as you can probably tell, is a blend of purple and blue obsidian, to match your eyes. Its name is 'Zhǎnshǒu' which, you already know, means 'Decapitator'. It's a chinese tang, sorry about that sweetheart, I know a katana would have been more appropriate but trust me, you'll like this blade. It cuts through… pretty much everything, as far as I can tell. The inscription on the handle is-"

"Oculum pro Oculo," I read. _A Chinese sword with a Latin inscription?_ "An eye for an eye?" Andi took a deep breath, and gently lowered the sword into the case as she kept reading.

"I'm aware that you're familiar with that blade and all it's properties, but I had to write that in so Vince wouldn't be left in the dark. Take care of it, Andrea. It's come a long way to be here. And always remember Rowan's last words: 'No matter what, you will always be part of the creed' clutch those words to your heart. You are the last one, it is your duty to survive." She crumpled the note and sighed before wiping away the tears that pricked her eyes, "I was hoping never to see this again."

"You've seen it before?" I asked, curious.

Andi nodded, "Yes. It's like I can't escape this…" She shook her head, trying to clear it. "Never mind. What's the blast core?"

"Dunno." I pulled it out of my back pocket, "It came with instructions, though." I unfolded the paper attached to the core, "'Absorb it.' Huh." I sat down on the bed, and held out one end of the core to Andi. She grabbed it, and nodded. "On the count of three, then. One, two-"

"Wait." She let go of her end, "We should probably do this outside."

"Oooh, because it might go boom, right?" I tucked the core into my jeans, "Well, let me change into my 'indestructible' clothes."

"Really?" Andi smirked as I dug through the boxes, "She made you indestructable clothes?"

"Apparently she made you some too." I tossed her a box full of different outfits, "They're all white, so you can color them however." Her face lit up and she immediately grabbed a shirt, tracing multi-colored designs along it's surface. I slid into jeans, a Black Mesa half-life shirt and an indestructible version of my favorite jacket. _Yay!_

* * *

><p>We stood together in an empty lot a few blocks away, the car at home to make <em>sure<em> that we didn't damage it. That thing had a penchant for punishment.

"So, ready?" I asked. Andi nodded and grasped the other end of the core. "One, two, three."  
>I tried to absorb the energy from the core and immediately I was whipped backwards by a huge wave of energy. The core disappeared and I felt energy racing up and down my body. I was lit up like a christmas tree. Then the pain kicked in, and before I could scream I blacked out.<p>

"Ugh, shit." I woke up with sand in my mouth. I spat it out, and rolled over. "Andi, you alright?"

"Remind me to never listen to you ever again," She groaned as she forced herself to her feet. "I always end up unconscious somewhere."

"Now that you mention it," I got up and cracked my back, "I really don't feel half bad." _Something's different._

Andi stretched, bending down to touch her toes, "You're right. No headache, nothing. I feel a little light on my feet, actually."

"Really? I feel… stronger. More anchored. Focused," I said with a grin.

"Well, let's get back home." Andi smiled and slugged me in the arm before yawning, "We can grab breakfast and then go whale on some Dupes to see if we can do anything new." I nodded, and she ran forward and leaped. Instead of flowing effortlessly up the side of a building, she spun around in a circle, ink quickly enveloping her. She nearly disappeared inside a cocoon of purple, swirling ink. And then the cocoon burst, and she re-emerged. With wings. Bloody. Fuckin'. Wings. They spread wide and caught the air as she soared upwards in a graceful spiral. I immediately launched after her and caught her in midair. Her gorgeous wings folded behind her and disappeared when we landed on a roof. Andi's eyes were wide and her mouth was hanging open in shock. "Holy shit."

"Holy shit," I agreed. "I think you can fly now."

"I think I can fly," She said with a nod. I blinked, she blinked, and I just stood there for a while, with her in my arms. Eventually, Andi took a deep breath and opened her mouth to say something that I would remember for years to come.

"Hooooly sheeeeit."


	13. Chapter 13: Wings and Rings

**Hey!  
>Next chapter already? Whaaaaat?<br>Read and review, if you liked it, if youve got suggestions, or if you wanna help me improve my writing.  
>~Zeta<strong>

"Wings?" Delsin asked, as he tore into a stack of pancakes as we all crammed into a booth at Denny's.  
>"Wings." Andi answered with a nod. She took a sip of her coffee and a bite of her sausage.<p>

"Wings." Fetch looked impressed and noticeably less enraged; I guess she got her beauty sleep after all.

"I-I have w-wings." Eugene added before drinking some orange juice through a crazy straw.

"Bigass, brightass, muthafahkin wings," I added. "Seriously."

"And you got these from something called a Blast core?" Delsin asked, more curious now. "Where'd you get a 'Blast Core'?"

"Alice in Wonderland," I replied. I got weird looks from all around the table, but I shrugged. "That's what she calls herself. You'll meet her if she wants to see you. Otherwise, I've got no idea how to find her."

Delsin swallowed more pancakes, "So what new powers did you get, Vince?"

"Pfft. Haven't found out yet. So far, no enhanced jump."

Delsin shrugged and offered a smile, "Who knows? Maybe you'll get something _really_ cool, like the ability to make a giant metal dragon."

"Holy shit that would be awesome. I hope I get that." I shoveled a forkful of bacon into my mouth, "But I think I can already do that."

"Seriously?!" Delsin almost choked on his pancakes. "Dude, why didn't you say so?"

I laughed, "Because it never came up. Seriously, when would it ever be practical to for me to make a giant metal dragon?"

"We can put it on top of the house! Andi can color it and Fetch can light it up! It'll let everyone know where the coolest conduits in tow chill out." He said, laughing.

Fetch rolled her eyes, "Yeah. And make it _really_ obvious for anyone nursing any kind of grudge where to find us."

"Sorry Abi." He pecked her on the cheek, and returned to the last of his pancakes. "I forgot you were still at war with the Russians."

"Plus, th-the roof might cave in," Eugene pointed out. "B-besides, how would we keep it from rusting?"

Andi rolled her eyes, "Hello? Girl with wings, still here."

"Right, right." I gave her a sheepish grin, "Sorry." She replied by ruffling my hair with a grin. Fetch facepalmed. I ignored her, "So why _are_ we meeting here?"  
>"One," Delsin held up a finger, "I was hungry and so were all of you." The pile of empty plates on the table were testament enough to that. "Two, I been thinking…"<p>

Fetch let out a groan,. "I told you t' stop thinking. The last time you tried thinking, we ended up trying to fly a helicopter while Eugene sprayed confetti out of the side." She elbowed him with a grin, "Leave the thinking to Eugene; he's the smart one." Eugene blushed, and Delsin snorted before carrying on.

"Anyways, we need to go to Curdun Cay. To set free all the Conduits that are still inside and to help them readjust to society. But first," and his face turned serious, "We need to meet with the President."

Andi raised an eyebrow, I spit out _my_ coffee, and Eugene started choking on his home fries. Fetch slapped him on the back and he coughed up a soggy wad of potatoes.

"Gross," Andi said, wrinkling her nose. "And the _President_? Of America?"  
>"No, of Oprah's book of the month club." He chuckled, "Yes, the President."<p>

"And why?" I asked. "I bloody hate wearing suits."

"We need to convince her, Vince," He stopped to laugh at the rhyme. We all just stared at him until he cleared his throat and continued. "We need to convince her that Conduits aren't dangerous to american society as a whole. That we're not Bioterrorists."

"No." Andi spoke up from beside me, shaking her head. "All the government ever wants is to turn Conduits into weapons."

Delsin raised a hand, "Look, I get that you have beef, but-"

"No." Andi's voice had gone dangerously quiet. "I do not have 'beef'. They took _everything _from me. _Everything._ They locked me up and tortured me and ripped me apart and mashed me back together, like a five-year old getting impatient and shoving random jigsaw pieces together to try and complete the puzzle. The picture you get will never, _not ever_ resemble the original." Shocked silence reigned at the table, and Andi stared into her coffee. "Never," she mumbled. I quickly put my arm around her and squeezed her shoulder. She just rested her head on my shoulder and closed her eyes. I looked over at Delsin and shook my head.  
>"We're not coming." He nodded, and we quickly finished breakfast and left. We split off from the main group, and got into the car. "Andi?"<p>

"Yeah?" She sounded like she was somewhere else, somewhere far away…

I started the car and reached over to give her hand a squeeze. "Let's go hit up the Converted for a little bit. A few days, maybe. We have gifts for them anyways."

"Right." She snapped back to attention and smiled dazzling at me, "And of course we get to see Opal."

I snorted and backed out of the parking lot, "I'm the one supposed to be romancing her, remember?"

She smirked seductively, "Doesn't stop me from appreciating. By they way, what did she taste like?" I slammed on the brakes so hard I almost crashed.

"Wh-what?" I managed to stammer out, my face turning bright red.

Andi laughed and ran a finger down my chest, "Did she taste sweet? Salty? Better than _me_?"

"I, I, I—" I took a deep breath, slammed on the accelerator and raced down the street, buying myself time to compose myself. I took a couple deep breaths and calmed myself down.

"She tasted like raspberries and mint. I wouldn't say it was better than you… You taste smoky, hot and sweet. She's more cool and crisp." I said all of this in monotone voice while keeping my eyes glued on the road.

Andi laughed and draped her arms around me. "You _like _her. I've only seen you get this flustered when you tried asking my dad for permission to take me to prom."

I rubbed my forehead, "Ugh. Never remind me of that. Ever."

"I thought you looked cute in that suit." She kissed me on the cheek before sliding back into her seat. "Even though you hated it."

"You're damn right. It was hot, sweaty and uncomfortable. It was way too tight and I felt like it would rip from me breathing too hard." I punched the steering wheel, "Never again."

Andi raised an eyebrow, "Oh, you will if I tell you to." She leaned over again, and gave a husky whisper that sent chills down my spine. "Because. You. Are. My. Bitch." She nibbled on my earlobe and I nearly crashed the damn car. Andi just laughed, "You'd better not get us a ticket."

I had no response. I was trying to control my breathing, my heart rate and my _lust._ I shook my head as I pulled into an alley. I pulled the emergency brake and hopped out of the car. I walked over to a brick wall and introduced it to my face. Hard. Several times. After I was satisfied, and the wall was a whole new shade of red, I made my way under the plastic sheets that separated the Converted from the rest of the world. Andi sighed as she followed, "You're so damn melodramatic."

"I can't help it." I noticed she was carrying the guitar case. "When did you-"

"I didn't. It was in the trunk so I assumed you put it there." She looked around, "Where is everyone?"

"That's a damn good question." The theatre was dark, empty. Not a sign of life remained, there weren't even any bodies of the Blessed lying around. "The fuck?"

"Wait," Andi walked over to one of the many doors on the walls, where she must've seen something, "Look." She tore off a note that was stuck on the doorframe and waved it at me.

"What is it with everyone's sudden penchant for leaving notes behind?" Seriously.

"I don't know," She replied, "But I think that's the first time you've ever said '_penchant'._" She added with a sideways-smile, "What I _do _know is that this is definitely the most useless note that we've found." Walking up to me, she handed me the note. The side I was looking at was empty and when I turned it over… so was the other side, "Just a piece of paper." Andi sighed.

"Not necessarily." Why would they leave a plain piece of paper _stuck_ to a doorframe? When the entire place is abandoned? It _had_ to be a secret message, "Can you get a small fire going?" I asked Andi when I noticed that she looked confused.

"Sure." She undid the latches on her guitar case and pulled out Zhǎnshǒu.

"Urr… Andi? I said make a fire… not 'decapitate' me." I noticed she smiled again, her eyes twinkling slightly, "Please?" I added.

"Just watch." She ordered me with an amused note to her voice. She pulled the sword out of its sheath and I swear the super-sharp blade _sang_, as it moved through the air. _Damn! She'll have __**no**_ _problem cutting my head off with that… _She handled it confidently, as if she had used it hundreds of times; and when she twirled it through the air a couple of times, it looked as if it was _made_ for her, the way the handle fit perfectly into her palm. I hadn't seen the blade because Andi had left it in the sheath when she saw it first. But now I just had to agree with Alice, it was _perfect _for her. The entire weapon was made out of precious gems and the purple and blue obsidian blade was the exact same colours as her eyes. And to think, this blade looked like it was hundreds of years old. Beautiful, old and deadly. And so damn scary it made Kristil's onyx knife look like a toothpick. She struck the ground with the tip of her blade and sparks flew off the concrete. The surety of her movements and the exact precision of that tiny strike made _Andi _look like the weapon and Zhǎnshǒu just an extension of her body. The end of the sword burst alight like a torch and I was completely lost for words as I marvelled at the beauty of the obsidian sword, the dancing fire on the end that didn't spread to the rest of the sword— an ingenious invention, a sword that can _harness_ fire safely as another weapon— the defined curve in as the blade reached a tip, in line with her eyes; those violet orbs that gleamed in the firelight, full of diamonds and tempests at the same time— "EARTH TO VINCE… VINCENT TATE DO YOU COPY?"

"Oh, what?" I realized I had been staring at her like an idiot, "Huh?"

"You wanted a fire, genius!" That smile still tugged the edge of her lips.

_What for? Oh, the secret message!_ "Oh yeah!" She shook her head at me.

"Sometimes I question your usefulness as my bitch." She held her sword out to me, the flames desperately reaching for the ceiling, only a few inches away from my chest.

"I'm good at something." I held the note over the fire, and smiled as letters began to appear, "I just can't think of what that is at the moment."

"Smashing things. Kicking ass. Making me feel like I belong, anywhere and everywhere. You're a great lover-" She stopped and gave me a wink, "Not to mention my personal savior." Her voice adopted a serious tone and the sparkle in her eyes was dulled. "I don't know how many times you've saved me… from myself. It's safe to say that without you I wouldn't be here."

"Hey, now." I reached over and tilted her head to face me. "Give yourself some credit. You've saved _me _more than I saved you. You're my anchor, remember? You're the reason I fight."

Andi smiled, and my heart soared. Immediately a goofy grin worked its way onto my face. The moment was shattered when Andi sniffed and wrinkled her nose. "Something's burning."

"SHIT!" I dropped the paper and immediately began stomping on it. Andi just started laughing, and though it was the most beautiful sound I'd ever heard, it didn't help. The fire was soon quashed under my shoe and I rubbed the bridge of my nose, irritated with myself.

"I can't believe you forgot about the paper," Andi said with a smirk. Her eyes were glowing with mirth and I groaned inwardly. "You really didn't feel the flame?"

"No," I admitted, sheepishly. "I was lost in your eyes again…"

"Jeez." She bent over and picked up the nearly-burnt paper. "I need to start putting up signs in there so you can find your way out."

"Do you not understand? Your eyes are like a whirlpool, I get sucked in—"

"It's code," She interrupted. "Luckily you didn't burn this part, it looks like an address. C'mon, I'll drive." She dropped the rest of the paper onto the edge of her sword, and let it burn before sheathing it and heading to the car. I trailed behind at first, but she turned around. "Take a picture, it'll last longer."

"I don't need a picture," I reminded her, as I hooked my thumbs through her belt loops, pushed her out the entrance and leaned her up against the car. "Every night you refresh my memory."

"Mmm." She tilted her head upward and we spent a sweet, sweet moment playing tonsil hockey before she pushed me away, gently. "We should get going." She wrapped a thick red ribbon around the sheath of her sword, and knotted it around her waist.

"Right. Where are we going?" I opened the door and flopped into my seat.

She laughed and slid into the driver's seat. "Further into the industrial district."

I made a face of disapproval. "Fun times."

* * *

><p>We walked into an abandoned warehouse, arms full of boxes, just in time to see Kristil and another blonde girl hashing it out. I saw the blonde scowl, flip Kristil off and walk away, her eyes flashing golden.<p>

"What was that about?" I asked with a barely contained grin. _Anyone who pisses her off is cool in my book._

She remained silent for a second, and then her eyes widened. I figured Hugin and Munin were working. "Nothing of your concern."

"Riiight. Anyways we brought gifts. Can you get your crew? Specifically Ethan, Ivy, Nexi and Opal?" Surprisingly she didn't question, and a few minutes later...

"For you, Nexi." I tossed her the box wrapped in the Flash's lightning bolts. She gave a squeal of delight when she tore it open. "OhMyGodThankyouthankthankyou!" She whizzed out of the room, presumably to go give the suit a test spin. I laughed and moved on to Ethan, "Where's Ivy?"

"Sleeping." I nodded and passed him the box. "It says it's for you but Ivy has to drink whatever's inside."

"Really?" He took out the vial and held it up to the glowing orbs of light. "And it's not poison? Ah, forget it. If it is, she'd be better off drinking it anyways." He left us without another word.

_And that's depressing. You gonna let him do that? _ I asked Kristil, wondering if she could hear my thoughts.

_It's up to him. I see you know Alice._

_In Wonderland?_

She smirked, _Is there another one?_ She raised her left wrist which was covered in a band similar to mine. _Old friend of mine. I can't see your thoughts now, unless you want me to._

_So I can send you my memory of that gore thread from 4chan?_

_What… _She immediately slammed her eyes shut and put a hand over her mouth. _Oh my god. Oh, my, god. That is entirely revolting. Why would you even…?_

I chuckled, _Don't worry about it._

_God! I'm going to puke! That is absolutely horrid! _She gagged and I heard her retch as I turned around to smile at Opal. She had a hand over her wide-open mouth and was looking slightly amused, slightly horrified. "What is in your head?" She asked.

I shrugged and tried to put an innocent expression on my face. "Nothing."

"I beg to _fucking _differ," Kristil managed to cough out.

I shrugged and handed Opal her bracelet. She batted her eyes and fanned herself with one hand. "For me? Oh, Vince."

"I'm going to fucking barf again," Kristil muttered, her face pale.

I rolled my eyes and kissed Opal before slipping on the bracelet. Andi was fangirling over to the side as Opal kissed back enthusiastically. This went on for a few seconds until she broke it off, "I have to go see Iris."

"Right." I watched her weave away through the crowd.

"You're one evil bastard," Andi said as she looked over at Kristil.

"Fuck you."

"Play nice," I said while shaking a finger at Kristil. "Or you won't get your present."

"You have a present for me?" She managed a weak smirk, "I don't want anything from you." She turned and walked away.

"Really?" I took the small lion out of the box. It had a bell attached to it's neck so I gave it a little jingle. Kristil froze. Slowly, she turned around to see the Lion in my hand. I shook it twice more, "C'mon, let's bury the hatchet." She didn't hear me. She was in a trance as she moved forward to gingerly pry the lion from my hands. Her face was full of wonder as the lion was carefully examined from top to bottom. She bit her bottom lip and her eyes started to glisten. _Kristil, Are you crying?_ She didn't answer, instead tucking the lion under her arm and walking away, briskly. "Kristil?" _Are you alright?_

She stopped, turned around, and quickly pulled me into an awkward hug. "Thank you." She then practically ran out of the room.

"What'd you do to her?" I followed the deep voice to it's source. David. His arms were crossed and he was looking less than pleased.

"Nothing. Just gave her some stuffed lion is all." Immediately his face softened, and he seemed almost… Happy? Sad? Both?"

"A stuffed lion?" He asked, sounding like he couldn't believe what just happened. Like I'd come back to life after three days in the ground or something.

"Yep. What's the deal, D?" I waved a hand in front of his face when he didn't respond. "D."

"Can I borrow that?" He quickly pointed at Hugin and Munin who graced my wrist.

"What?" I looked at the leather cuff. "Why?"

He shrugged and grinned. "If I'm going to borrow it, I can't tell you."

"Oh. Well. Here." I unsnapped it from my wrist. "If you don't give it back I will track you down and quite possibly kill you."

His grin only widened. "Thanks. I owe you like you wouldn't believe."

I smiled and backed up, just a bit. "Just don't hug me and make it weird."  
>His grin diminished into a smirk, and we touched fists. "Hey, wanna come to the canteen with us? Everyone is packing up and getting ready to go."<p>

I looked at Andi and she shrugged. "Sure. We've got nothing to do except each other anyways."

David raised an eyebrow as I nearly choked on my own spit. Andi patted me on the back sympathetically. "Oh, I almost forgot." She gave an apologetic smile to David, "There's Opal, too." He burst out laughing and I could feel my face turning a whole new shade of crimson.

* * *

><p>"This place is freakin' huge!" The 'canteen' they'd taken us to was indeed bloody <em>huge<em>. There were three giant rooms, and David led us to a room that was painted with a single red stripe along otherwise gray walls. The inside was plush and decorated, with red as the main theme. Red velvet couches, stained oak tables, an aquarium underlit with red lights and filled exclusively with red fish, red colored-bulbs on the chandeliers and rose-tinted windows. The rectangular tables were arranged so that Kristil and the rest of us were slightly elevated, with others below us. I pulled out Andi's chair and received a kiss for my troubles. I noticed that David squeezed Kristil's hand when he sat down but she hardly responded. Instead she looked directly at me.

_Why?_

_Why what?_ I pulled out a menu and began perusing the choices.

_Why did you give David your bracelet?_

_He wouldn't tell me precisely so you wouldn't know. _I offered a soft smile, _But I don't think you need to worry about him._

"Where's Opal?" Andi asked Kristil.

"Ah, she's dining with the rest of the Blues." She sighed and composed herself, "I supposed it is time that I explained how our system works. We are divided into three classes based on colour of our blood: Ambers, Blues and Reds. Ambers and Blues are weaker than us, powerwise and otherwise. They have the need to eat four to ten times as much, depending on if they've used their powers. Ambers are really the weakest. Their powers are next to nothing and they need to eat the most. Iris is an Amber, albeit one that is _slightly_ stronger than the rest. Most of them can only accomplish little tricks like switching on the lights by blinking. Blues are next. They're the widest on the power spectrum, with powers in the category of Ambers to power that rival ours. They however, also share the need to ingest large amounts of food to fuel themselves and they can get sunburnt quite easily. Reds," She gestured, "Are us. We've got the strongest powers and we don't burn ourselves out or need a cartload of food to keep going. We also have a healing factor-"

I interrupted with a laugh. "Healing factor? Don't flatter yourself." _Hmm… Should I get sushi or burritos?_

"Quite. Now there is a council. It's made up of the strongest reds, and some blues like Opal and Jim." _Jim?_

_Puff the Magic Dragon, you called him._

_Oh yeahhh!_

"Really?" Andi said with raised eyebrow. "That's hardly fair representation."

"It works." Kristil countered. "Everyone gets fed and everyone stays happy."

_Not everyone,_ I reminded her, bringing up what Opal said in the alley. Kristil dismissed me with a wave of her hand and a bored look on her face, "You should have seen what it was like _before_ I came…" Kristil mumbled under her breath so that only I could hear.

"That's actually what I wanted to talk to you, about, Vince." David folded his menu and placed his hands on the table. "I want to offer you a spot on the council."

The word "taken" flew out of my mouth before Kristil could shut me down. "Now, when is the waiter coming? I'm starving."

* * *

><p>Two Carne Asada burritos and one 24-piece rainbow roll later, I was full. Andi was working her way through a third ribeye steak and Kristil looked almost relaxed.<p>

_I am relaxed,_ she confirmed with a smirk. _I'm always relaxed._

_Do I have to raise the images of that particular-_

_Pfft. figured out how to block those, Vince. Though I must say you've discouraged me from poking too deep into your head ever again._

_Really? What about the lion then?_

_That… _Her face changed expression, from smug and relaxed to earnest and… humble?! _I don't think I can ever thank you enough for that._

_Lemme guess,_ I twirled a chopstick in one hand, pretending to be bored.

_Don't. I'm just starting to like you and I don't want to go back to hating you. I could use more friends. _

My eyes widened and the chopstick clattered onto the plate. _Bullshit._

_I'm afraid not. _She smiled but her eyes were haunted and sorrowful, _As you can imagine no one likes having their secrets exposed. David and perhaps Sheba are the only people I can confide in. And one of them's not even a person._

_Well, gee. Maybe you'd have more friends if you weren't such a hostile __**bitch**__._

_Maybe you could have __**saved Andi**_ _from Augustine if you'd __**fought**_ _harder, _she shot back.

I grit my teeth, _Fuck you. Like you'd fucking know anything about that. Like you can come in my head AND TALK SHIT! Augustine would have massacred you in an instant. All the mind tricks in the world won't save you when there's a metric ton of concrete rushing at your damn face!_ I stabbed a knife into the table and everyone jumped. _You like to __**pretend **__you're_ _**better**_ _than everyone but when it comes down to it you just hold people back! In a fight even the lowliest Amber is worth more than you, and you're comparing yourself to me?! Fuck you, bitch. You can't even __**survive**_ _a goddamn __**bullet **__to the __**face**__, you sack of shit. _I twisted the knife, and wood splintered as I leaned forward, glaring daggers. _Come back and talk to me when __**you **__can do that._

Andi had an arm out across my chest, holding me back, but the other hand was on her sword hilt, when had she moved Zhǎnshǒu diagonally across her her back— ninja-style— instead of her waist? David looked ready to throw down, right there. Kristil's eyes bored into mine and I stared right back. The silence grew in the room as everyone noticed what was going on. We waited till the tension was at it's peak, then burst out laughing at the exact same time. I let go of the knife and sank back into the very comfortable couch.

_Did you see the looks on their faces? _She asked with glee. _We had them!_

_Yeah, they totally fell for it. Seriously though? Don't ever bring up my fight with Augustine again._

_Water under the bridge._ She offered her hand and I kissed it with a smile. She wiped it off with her napkin afterwards. _Ugh, dog slobber._

_Says the bitch._

_Touche. _She smirked and I rolled my eyes.

David cleared his throat. "If you two are done with… whatever that was, I hope you won't mind me interrupting. I've got a gift for you, Kristil."

She turned to him with a dazzling smile, silver lipstick reflecting the candle-like light "Yes?"

"Oh my god, they're just like us," Andi whispered.

"You're not a bitch," I _oh so helpfully_ pointed out.

"But you're _mine_," She reminded me, leaning over to gently bite my neck. I elbowed her in the ribs, reminding her that we were in public. She flicked my face in annoyance, returned to her seat, and we both faced Kristil and David, waiting. He was down on one knee and fumbling with his pockets.

"I had it somewhere," he muttered. I sent out a Mag pulse and found what he was looking for.

"Left hand side, chest pocket." He looked at me thankfully and pulled out a small, black, velvet box.

"Kristil."

Kristil wiped away the tears that were streaming down her face. "David, that box better not be what I think it is."

"It is."

She shook her head, "No. David, no. You… you can't, I'm telling you no."

"But I am." He opened the box and inside was a simple silver band with three small emeralds embedded on top. "Asma Kristil D'Alia, will you marry me?"

_What a name!_ I leaned back and whispered, "Lot of drama the first few days we've been in town, huh?"

"Shut up!" Andi whispered angrily. "You'll ruin the moment!"

I was shocked. "You _care_ all of a sudden?" Her fist crashed into my face and I had to watch the rest of the scene from the floor.

Kristil was silent, hand over her mouth. The waterworks were on full blast now; the stream of tears running down her cheeks could rival the Nile. There was a long pause, long enough that I thought she might say no. She took a deep, shuddering breath. "Yes. Yes, of course I will." David exhaled a sigh of relief and the two embraced. I heard Andi sniffle and I couldn't help but grin.

"You two will make the perfect couple," I heard myself say. "You'll grow old together, I can just see that. And who knows? Maybe with time, Kristil will mellow out and stop being such a b-" In the blink of an eye Andi's sword was out of its sheath and pressed dangerously against my throat. Her eyes blazed with a murderous fire and I swallowed nervously, feeling the incredibly honed edge prick my skin. "Er, I mean, maybe you'll just grow old together. Or something."

David laughed, "Or something."

"Or something," Kristil agreed, still wiping away tears. Andi withdrew her sword and I breathed a sigh of relief.

"So." I got up and sat in the chair. "I bet you guys need bitchin' wedding rings, right?" The newly engaged couple looked at me with blank stares on their faces. I grinned jauntily, "Well, guess who just happens to specialize in bitchin' wedding rings?"


	14. Chapter 14: Council

**Next chapter :)  
>Thanks for reading and resewing.<br>Stay awesome.**

**~Zeta**

"You. You make rings?" David asked.

"He's not lying," Kristil confirmed.

"I've been storing precious metals ever since I learned about my powers."

"You can do that?" Andi asked, laughing.

"Yep. You could say I'm actually made of gold. And platinum. And silver."

Andi realized where I was going, and slowly shook her head. "I can't believe you. Is that why we robbed all those jewelry stores?"

"Yep."

"Unbelievable," She muttered. "un-freakin'-believable. I thought you burned the gold!"

I couldn't resist grinning, "Nope. Only fenced the rocks."

She sighed, "Damn it, Vince. You couldn't just pawn the gold."

"Where's the fun in that?" I asked with a grin.

Andi rubbed the bridge of her nose, irritated. "Please tell me you re-cut the stones."

"Yes I did, love." I gave her a kiss. She returned it. We broke apart and I went back to sipping my drink.

Andi leaned over again and whispered in my ear, "You think _we_ could get married some time?" To my credit, I didn't choke on my drink.

"Sure. Right after I kill Kessler and find my dad," I teased.

She pretended to pout. "You're so mean."

"Awww." I patted her on the head with a grin, "If you really want to, I'll propose right now."

She choked on _her_ drink. _Finally, sweet, sweet revenge._

_You two are complete idiots._ Kristil said with a sweet smile.

_The idiot who's gonna make you wedding rings. If you don't want yours coated with lead dust, shut it._

_I could get used to this banter. It's stimulating._

_I already like it._ _Of course, ask me out loud and I'll deny it. _We smiled at the same time.

Andi recovered and wiped her mouth. "Not funny," she grumbled.

"It was for me. Hey Dave, can I get my band back?" He nodded and I gladly took Hugin and Munin from him.

"On that note, it's time to hold a meeting of the council." Kristil stood, and apparently sent out a mental message. Everyone stopped what they were doing and quickly organized the tabled int chairs into a haphazard oval. Kristil turned to face me, "Andi has to leave."

I nodded and walked her to the door, and hugged her. "Hide." She pulled away and noticed that I'd wrapped Hugin and Munin around her wrist. I turned around and headed back to my place at the table. Sheba, the black liger, slinked past me and almost gave me a heart attack before she curled around Kristil's seat and allowed her to stroke her fur, glaring at me with its feline eyes. The fact that the oversized cat could _talk _still creeped me out.

There were a few familiar faces. I saw Puff the Magic Dragon holding hands with Alfie, Nexi in her new suit, Ethan and Ivy sitting next to each other and that blonde that had argued with Kristil earlier. She was apparently trying to burn Kristil alive with her stare and she stared back with a toothy grin as if having some psychic battle. Doing a quick head-count, I realized there was around thirty-to-forty Converted in the council and about a quarter of them looked as if they were ready to back up the blonde.

Achilles wandered in, brushed past David, and lay down next to me. I hadn't come so close to the liger before and it's sheer size was intimidating— he was almost as big as a car— but I found myself scratching him behind the ears anyway.

"Now that we're all here," Kristil said, gazing around the room, "We need to talk about the Blessed attack. I'd like to know why you all fled, leaving only us and the Prime," she nodded at me, "to fight off the Blessed. We are the protectors and must act as such."

"You say that as if we're undefeatable," spat the blonde.

_Eliza, _Kristil corrected me. _She's a Red who creates illusions. Still believes in the old system that the Converted followed before me, the one where she had a __**lot **__of influence._

"We're not all _killing machines, _thank you. My power had no effect on the Blessed and I did not intend to die fighting a losing-"

"So you admit you're useless?" I asked with a smirk. "Glad we got that out of the way."

"Shut up," Eliza snapped. "Why is he even here? He's not one of us."

"You're right. He's not a Converted, he's a Prime. And despite not being one of us, he stayed to fight the Blessed thereby protecting the rest of _you_." Kristil's words dripped venom and I was glad that I wasn't on the receiving end. Eliza just stared at her defiantly. There was probably some mental exchange going on.

_There is._ The voice that emanated from Achilles startled me.

_You can talk too?_

_My mate isn't the only talented one._

_Sheba? _The black liger.

_That's the name head of the human pack gave her. _Kristil.

_Anyone ever tell cats don't talk? _I smiled, time to gauge this cat's sense of humour.

_Anyone ever tell you that humans smell funny?_ He looked up and met my eyes, unblinking. _Because you do._

_Touche, my cat friend. So, do you do anything besides mind tricks?_

_I can teleport,_ he thought as he began to wash a paw.

_So you're like the cat equivalent of Lockjaw?_ I apparently hit a sweet spot behind his ear, because he started purring.

_If you must compare me to a dog. But I'm better. A little to the left, please._ I complied and his purring got louder.

_So why do you even bother hanging around with us? Out of curiosity._

_It's a mutualistic relationship. I protect you, you scratch my itches and feed me._ He blithely rolled over and exposed his stomach. I began to pet him with long, lavish stroked and his gentle rumble went up a few notches. It sounded like a car engine. _Like right now._

_You actually like this?_

_Don't you? I see that you enjoy your mate playing with your fur._

I felt my cheeks heat, _It's hair, not fur. And yes, I do enjoy it. A lot._

_Well then you understand._ He rolled over and got up to place his forepaws on the arm of my chair, gazing into my eyes. I stared right back. Then, unexpectedly, he started licking my face.

_Ew! Gross, down boy, down!_

_Your fur is all messy and out of place. I'm fixing it._ He continued with his slow, methodical licks.

_It's fine! Now down! _ I shoved him off my chair. I swear he was grinning at me.

_There. Favor repaid in full._

_Well, it's better than getting licked by a dog._ I frantically brushed my hair down with my hands to give myself some semblance of looking normal.

_I agree. I also have a killer itch at the base of my tail._

I sighed and began scratching the base of his tail. Achilles stretched luxuriously, curving his spine and kneading the carpet with his claws. _What're they talking about?_ I asked. _I've stopped paying attention._

_Actually, Eliza is about to ask you a question._ I looked up just to catch the last snippet of a question

"— paying attention?" Eliza said with a glare.

"Yes, I have been. I think that-"

_They've been talking about the food problem. Joshua offered the solution of building up stores of non-perishables._

"— Josh has the best idea. You all need to start stockpiling instead of spending a ton on a la carté meals. Also—"

_They addressed the current situation with the blessed. Many were pushing to hunt them down and kill them._

"I think you're a bunch of idiots." A low murmur started at that statement but I ignored it and pressed on. "Yesterday you didn't even stand up to them, and now you're out for blood? We barely held our own against _five_ of them. For all you know, there could be hundreds out there, you don't have the manpower." I noticed a few people were nodding their heads in silent agreement. "Screw your powers and the healing factors, they've got powers stronger than most of yours and do you really think Kessler only has five? That maniac probably has enough numbers to be like Russia: they just throw people at you until you run out of bullets. Metaphorically of course. And besides, do you _really_ wanna go looking for Kessler? _Really_?" I saw more than one head shake, answering my question. _Anything else, Achilles?_

_Well Eliza currently hates you. And you should follow that last statement up with something about playing on the defensive._

I nodded and continued. "You need to play defense. Fortify this new hideout. Assign guards, bar the doors, start training an army if you have to. Gladiators do not an army make."

Kristil arched an eyebrow, _Alright, I'm impressed. You actually were paying attention._

_Pfft, no. Achilles had my back._

_Of course._ Her head slowly sunk into an open palm. _God forbid you focus on anything._

_I am focused. On the telepathic 600 pound liger sitting next to me._

_God._ Kristil raised her head slowly, looking wearied. _I just want this to be over. _

_Well you __**did**_ _just get engaged. I imagine you and David want to… celebrate?_

_Well, it's also incredibly tiring. If I don't have the energy to 'celebrate' after this, I'll kill Eliza myself. _We listened as several delegates argued back and forth over idiosyncrasies. _We're worse than the US senate._

A chuckle escaped my lips, _Nothing can be worse than the senate._ I was rewarded when the corners of her lips curled upwards.

"Care to share?" Eliza spat. "It's obvious the Prime and our leader have lots to say to each other, and the rest of us would like to know."

I lazily waved a hand, "Oh, we were talking about the wonderful isle of Nunya."

"Nunya?" Her eyes narrowed, "We sit here debating the future of the group and you two are planning romantic getaways?"

I wasn't sure whose facepalm was louder, mine, Kristil's, or Nexi's. David rolled his eyes and Alfie seemed to be fighting back laughter.

"It's the isle of Nunya buisness, Eliza." The exasperation showed in my voice but at this point I couldn't care less. "It's a fucking joke. Maybe if you didn't have such a big stick up your ass you'd be laughing with the rest of us."

"What?!" She shrieked. I saw Achilles wince.

_She makes unpleasantly high-pitched sounds._

_I feel ya, buddy. _ I rubbed the top of his head, _So, she's yelling at me, I assume._

_Yes. _

_Do I want to know what she's saying?_

_It's amazing how easily you tune people out, _he countered while avoiding my question.

_I learned in school._

_Be careful. She is an illusionist, and her growing frustration may prompt her to-_

My arm burst into flames. I stared at it, wondering how in the hell that happened.

_It's an illusion, Vince. See through it._

_I do. It's just trippy as balls._

_How are balls 'trippy'?_

I sighed and scratched Achilles under the chin. _Never mind. Is she done screaming?_

_Yes._

I sighed and turned to face Eliza. "You're incredibly boring. Next time just punch me in the face or something. Are we done here?"

"No, we are not done!" She hissed. "I demand-"

"That I pull out the stick? Well I dunno, it's pretty far up there. I'd need hella lube." Nexi gawked at me while Ethan hid a smile behind his hand. Alfie and Puff was bent over double in silent laughter, Kristil was outright grinning and David absolutely lost it. Unfortunately so did Eliza, who leaped over the table, furious, and reached for some kind of concealed weapon.

A blur shot out from the corner of the ceiling. It collided with Eliza and sent her sprawling. Before she could recover a sword was pressed against her neck. Andi smiled menacingly at the other girl. With purple wings spread wide, black hair trailing down past her shoulders and amethyst eyes smoldering with an eerie fire; she looked like the Angel of Death.

"I would think _**very**_ carefully about your next move," She said in a near whisper. Her wings folded and faded but she didn't sheathe her sword. Eliza gulped and crawled backwards until she bumped into the wall. Andi smiled, sheathed her sword, and hopped over the table to sit on my lap. "That was fun."

"You were in the ceiling? How and why?"

"An assassin never reveals her secrets," she said with a grin.

"Great." Andi just laughed and turned around, trying to get comfortable. I slid my arms under hers and hooked them around her waist, letting my chin rest on the top of her head. "You know I could have taken her."

She smiled. "I know. But that was hilarious."

"Indeed."

"You're warm and soft, Vince. Why are you so warm and soft? " She asked, fighting off a yawn.

"I'm not warm and soft. I'm cold and steely," I deadpanned, in my best impression of Arnold Schwarzenegger.

She chuckled, "Alright then, governator. Whatever helps you sleep at night." She closed her eyes and moved her head to my shoulder.

I sighed. The rest of the meeting flew by, and before I knew it Kristil had called an end to it. The whole ordeal had taken too long. It was dark outside by the time we finished. I was about to get up when I noticed that Andi was snoring softly. I couldn't help but smile. She rarely slept so peacefully. I gently picked her up off my lap, bridal carry style, and made my way out of the canteen and down to the car. I placed her in the passenger seat, wincing when her sword bumped the top of the car. Luckily she didn't wake up, and I was able to drive her home and carry her up all the flights of stairs without incident. I tucked her into bed and took the sword off her back, placing it right next to the bed. I crawled in after quickly brushing my teeth. _One interesting day, huh?_ With that last thought, I drifted off into sleep.


	15. Chapter 15: Stained Glass

**Ayyy lmao**

**So, want a better look at Vince's gun because I didn't describe it? There's a link on my profile. **

**Chapter 15?! Damn. That's cray. Like, how long have I been writing this?(Protip: only for one month.)**

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It started as a rumble. That's what woke me up, the rumble. The entire house was shaking and for a second I thought I was back in California. Then there was a huge _boom!_ The windows blew inwards and there was a brilliant flash of light. I was wide awake at this point, and was at the gap in the wall where there had once been a window in a split second. The smell of brimstone and smoke rolled over me but I ignored it and focused on the red and black mushroom cloud. I didn't even notice the bits of glass digging into my feet until Andi brought it to my attention.

"Doesn't that hurt?"

I shook my head. "Let's get over there. Now."

"Right," she muttered. "Yeah, great idea, babe. Let's go _towards _the giant explosion... Couldn't we just go back to sleep?"

I raised an eyebrow. "You're joking, right? There's a hole in the wall." It took a few seconds for her to register that the explosion had actually put a hole in the wall.

"Shit. I'll get Zhǎnshǒu." She sprinted around to the other side of the bed while I started searching for jeans.

* * *

><p>I landed hard on my feet, in the middle of a sizeable crater. Andi descended gracefully and lightly, hovering a few feet above the ground before dropping.<p>

"Fuck." Everywhere I looked, there were broken shards of metal, concrete and faintly glowing glass. _Glass._ "Fuck."

"You're damn right," said a faint, unmistakably Scottish voice. A cough followed, and I saw Edward and Jace, lying side by side half buried under a miniature mountain of rubble. Jace was unconscious, but looked otherwise no worse for the wear. Edward, on the other hand, was cut up, bloodied and torn. Huge gashes crisscrossed his chest— which were slowly healing before my eyes— his nose was obviously broken, and his blond hair was now red and seriously messy. I wasn't sure, but his right arm might have been dislocated.

"I'm tempted to leave you," Andi said with a smirk. "But you'd just get out." She sent out a pulse of ink that lifted away half of the debris. Edward moaned in agony as a particularly heavy bit of concrete was lifted off his shoulder. "God, that burns." I could see his suit clearly now that there was barely anything covering it. It honestly looked like a lightweight version of Iron Man's armor, with concrete grey replacing red as the main color. I would have normally say that it looked badass, if it wasn't torn in various places… but the main thing that ruined its coolness was the DUP logo emblazoned across his chest, almost unrecognisable through all the blood.

I kicked him in a particularly bloody spot, eliciting another groan. "Yeah, well. Maybe you should have thought about that before you threw down with…" I looked around, "Apparently me. Who tried to put you in the ground, Scottie?"

"What?" His eyes narrowed, "They weren't yours? They had metal powers. Don't lie to me." He tried to growl the last bit but, in his pain, it almost came out as a whimper. _What could have hurt him so much? In our fight, he_ _**almost **__won, yet here he is beaten— literally— to a pulp. And Jace too… according to Andi, he's even stronger than Edward. _

"Go to hell, Eddie." I was about to stomp on his face when I heard a gun go off a split second before a bullet struck me in the back of the head. I spun around to see who _dared._ It was dupes. In white instead of yellow, and they had GOLIATH emblazoned on their chests and a Celtic design in the shape of a diamond on their shoulders. _Well, the DUP's been replaced… by more DUP. These guys don't look too dangerous._ I fired a shot back at G-man number one. He raised his hand and my shot curved wildy, missing him by a mile.

"Vince? What the hell?" Andi asked, "You haven't been raising an evil army in secret… right?"

"No." I turned to Edward and encased his arms in metal, doing the same to Jace. "Stay here, Eddie," I growled. "Wouldn't want you to have an accident now would we?"

"Just bloody knock me out already," He complained with a grimace.

"No." I kicked him again and walked away, to face the G-men.

They were all on the floor. Andi twirled Zhǎnshǒu before sheathing it, walked over and gave me a kiss. "I got bored of waiting."

"Wha… How?! Where are their heads? Why didn't I hear that?" I tugged on my hair with both hands, frustrated. "I didn't even get to use my cool new gun!"

Andi grinned. "I'm an assassin, remember? There'll be another time to use your—" She noticed the holster and revolver strapped to my hip, "When did you get a gun?"

"After the Blessed shot me with it." I took it out and spun it around my finger. "Neat, huh? I'mma call it Durendal."

"Is it a .44 magnum?" Andi asked, looking closer.

"I thought that too, but I haven't shot it yet. The bullets look about that size." The gun itself was strange. It looked like someone had taken the grip and the cylinder, moved it halfway up the silvered barrel, then tacked a muted-orange rail and half-barrel onto it so that the gun would actually fire. Andi took the revolver and looked down the sights.

"Durendal, huh?" She dragged two fingers along the sizeable barrel, leaving the word 枯れる in midnight blue.

I pretended to read the Kanji, "Cool."

She rolled her eyes, "You don't know what it says, do you?"

"You're the Japanese one."

She smirked, "It says 'Wither'. So when you shoot someone, they'll be cursed to wither."

I scratched the back of my neck, "Can they really wither if there's a hole in their face?"

Andi rolled her eyes good-naturedly, "Maybe it'll wither their soul."

"Bloody hell!" I remembered that Edward was here. "Jus' get me out of here already."

Another car rolled up, and Edward opened his mouth to complain more. "Now we're dead."

Three men got out of the nondescript, government sedan. They were wearing white knee-length coats with the Celtic diamond logo and black leather underneath. The creepy part was the masks that they wore which looked like extra skin stretched across their face… and made them look like they had no face. But I couldn't tell if they even _were_ masks. _They had to be, right? _

The men made no sound as they advanced towards us. I sighed, "Here goes nothing." I raised Durendal, aimed, and pulled the trigger. One G-man jerked backwards and his head slammed into the car, destroying the window. Needless to say, there was a nice hole in his forehead. _And I didn't even have to use both hands._ I pulled the hammer back and aimed at the second one, who had pulled a small silver ball with a blue band of light along the side out of his pocket. Some sort of grenade. A pull of my trigger and _boom._ But he ducked away and jumped towards me. I could feel that there was a lot of metal under that outfit but when I tried to control it… I just _couldn't_. With a swift sling of his arm, he sent the grenade towards me and Andi. Andi turned her body into ink so that the explosion wouldn't hurt and I quickly constructed a metal shield with some of the metal lying around. The explosion… well let's just say it wasn't what I was expecting. A shell of white light expanded from the tiny metal sphere and hit Andi first. Her body reverted back to her original form and she fell to the ground, gasping for air as if she was drowning. The light hit me a second later, passing straight through my shield. At the start it just felt like a strong breeze but then my vision went out of focus and my muscles seized up. I was on the ground before I even knew I was falling.

"Shit!" I heard Edward. The feeling was slowly fading but nowhere near fast enough. The remaining two men were slowly walking towards us, the tension was so thick I could have cut it with a knife— that is, if I could _move my body_. The edges of their cheeks were protruding, suggesting that they were smiling under those creepy masks. My vision went back into focus and I could see Andi. She was on her feet— thank God— and had Zhǎnshǒu drawn. I tried controlling some of the metal on the battlefield but it refused to budge, even though I didn't even need to move my body to control small amounts of metal, I just needed to focus. _I am __**fucking**_ _focusing! Why aren't my powers working? This __**better**_ _not be that RFI shit Kristil mentioned. _

"We only require the males," One G-man said to his partner. His voice were strangely deep, as if he was gargling pebbles.

"Dispose of the female?" The other asked. His voice was slightly softer, though lacked none of the menace.

"It would be suitable revenge for our fallen colleagues." Deep voice answered.

"Yes" Soft voice agreed before pointing his arm (the one with the steel whip) towards her and the whip uncoiled itself like a snake and darted towards her. She neatly dodged the whip and ducked under another swift bite of the weapon before rolling towards Softy and thrusting her sword towards his chest. He dodged but Andi darted for him again, before he could retaliate and ducked under a fist before attempting to stab him in the back. But, fast as she was, she still wasn't fast enough. Deep had his own whip uncoiled and it wrapped itself around Zhǎnshǒu. With a mighty tug, he pulled her body towards his before levitating one of the sharp shards of metal strewn over the crater.

_Bang!_

Deep staggered back, clutching his chest and releasing Andi, "You missed!" She shouted.

I rubbed the bridge of my nose in annoyance. The paralysis had mostly passed and I was on my feet, my body only feeling _slightly _sluggish but I still couldn't use my powers. _This better be temporary or I'll castrate the pair of them _ "Give me some credit here. I'm shooting one-handed." I pulled back the trigger and aimed again. "Feeling lucky?" I muttered as I squeezed the trigger again. This time I hit my mark. The G-man crumpled to the ground and I dumped the empty casings and added three more rounds. "I've officially got 69 conduit-killing rounds left." _Heh, 69. _I turned to Softy and pointed Durendal at him.

"You have no idea who you're dealing with, Vincent." He hissed. _Obviously he knows my name, which insane maniac nowadays doesn't?_

"And _you_ have no idea how many freakin' times someone has said that to me… before dropping dead!" I stated, pretending that I was the jolliest man on Earth. I squeezed the trigger. _Bang!_ But Softy jumped out of the way, unnaturally agile, and wrapped his whip around Andi's neck and pulled her infront of him, in my line of fire. _Shit shit shit. _The blood rushed to Andi's face as the air quickly escaped from her lungs.

"Perhaps if you didn't spend so much time running your mouth, you could have saved your—"

A shard of glass penetrated his shoulder and he jerked backwards, giving Andi the space to thrust Zhǎnshǒu backwards and into his stomach before jumping out of the way to let me finish off the job with Durendal. I rushed over to Andi and pulled her into a hug, the familiar wave of power rushing back to my veins. _Oh yeah, powers decide to come back when I don't even need them any more… the sass!_

"You're welcome." Edward grumbled from the ground.

"Why'd you do it?" I asked, it'd sure as hell be easier for him to just let Softy kill us.

"If that bastard killed you two, I'd probably be next." Okay, so he's not a compassionate person who just can't stand to watch us being killed, he only wanted to save his own hide. Go figure.

"Well, we gotta watch out for those grenades," I said, turning back to Andi, "and we're definitely lucky that I've got this." I raised Durendal.

"Definitely a "sword of the air"," Andi noted. "Let's get the Scott and the Albino to Kristil's place. We'll find out what they know there."

I nodded, holstered my pistol, and walked over to pick up Edward in a fireman's carry.

"Oh, fuck. Fuck you," he wheezed. "Fuck, my ribs."

"Shut it." I took a running start and launched to the roof of a building. "We've got a long way to go."

* * *

><p>I waited in a separate room with Jace. He eventually woke up, and I smiled. "Hello." He said nothing, so I continued. "Jace, right? Well, you can relax, I don't work with the G-men that attacked you." I allowed that to sink in, then gestured to his cuffs. "I know those won't hold you. If you use your powers you'll just blow right out of them, right?"<p>

Silence.

"So you may wonder what's keeping you in here. Because the resulting explosion would destroy this room, certainly. And that means it would destroy this." I whisked a white sheet off the painting with all the thrones. "Yours, right?"

His eyes widened. "Where… How do you have that?"

"It was in the back of a APC." I said with a grin. "Don't sweat being here, though. You saved my life before, so you're good. It's Edward we're beating to a pulp."

"I can't believe you have the painting," he shook his head, "I thought it was destroyed."

"Nope. Look, man, if it were up to me I'd take you out of the cuffs. This door locks from the outside, so…" I shrugged. "I'm guessing you painted it."

"Yeah." His eyes had glazed over, "I painted it as a gift for Celia…"

I leaned forward, "Celia who?"

"Penderghast. She talked to your girlfriend, Andi. She and I are, well, dating." He chuckled, "Not that there's many places to go in Curdun Cay, and with my 'rebellious streak' Augustine didn't let me out much."

"You think you had it bad?" I joked, "Try one of the cells."

He didn't quite meet my eyes. "I'm sorry about that. I asked to make it a little easier for you but… well you know big-bad-Augustine."

"Well, you shouldn't be one apologizing. Augustine's locked up. It's not a problem anymore." I sat back in my chair and frowned, "Ed's the only problem. I'm really tempted to kill him." I tapped Durendal's grip impatiently. "He's a constant danger. He's nearly killed me, and more importantly, Andi." I looked up, "What would you do in my position?"

His answer was unforgiving. "Eliminate the threat." He paused, and then met my caramel eyes with his scarlet ones. "But I'm not in your position. He's my friend, and I'm telling you that he's a good person. If not for me, he would have killed you before you knew what was going on." I scoffed, "No, seriously. Ed can be pretty dangerous. The List says that I'm one of the strongest Conduits on Earth but even I wouldn't willingly get into a fight with him. Don't blame him for five years of conditioning that made him a killer."

I shrugged, "My girlfriend was trained to be an assassin from birth. I'm worried about his ability to overcome the training, not the training itself. That, and I'm still pissed at him."

"Well then, don't be."

I made a :L face at Jace. "Not that easy."

"Have you tried?"

"Yes. I'm only eighteen. I'm allowed to hold grudges."

Silence. I got up, and opened the door with the flick of my wrist. "I'll be back."

"Thanks for the painting," He said as I closed his door and moved to the next room.

"—AND YOU CAN SHOVE IT UP YER BLOODY FUCKIN' ARSE!" I winced while covering my ears.

"Jeez, Ed. David barely gave you a love tap."

He saw me and his eyes nearly bulged out of his head. "YOU! YOU'D BETTER HOPE I DIE IN HERE BECAUSE—"

I fired a shot of metal from my hands that wrapped around his mouth, effectively gagging him. "He say anything helpful?"

David looked out of breath, beatin' up the Scottie must be a pretty good workout. He shook his head. "Interesting, sure. Useful? No."

"Of course." I slapped one of his massive biceps, "Take five, big guy. See if you can find Kristil."

"Will do." His eyes sparkled with mirth, "But even if I do I can't guarantee that she'll be able to walk over here."

I laughed and elbowed him, "Then carry her over. She'd get off on the power trip."

"She would," He acknowledged seriously. "I'll get going. Oh, and here's the design for her ring." He handed me a slip of paper and headed for the door.  
>"Send in Nexi, would ya?" I called after him. He nodded and the door slammed, leaving me alone with Edward. I waved a hand and the gag came off. "How's your day going so far?"<p>

He just narrowed his eyes.

"Silent, huh?"

"..." He turned his head away.

"So, what—" Nexi burst into the room.

"HayVincewhat'sgoingonDavidsaidyouneededsomehelpandthanksforthesuit."

I smiled, "You're welcome." _I think…_

Edward spoke up. "I could use some water. I'm no use to you if I die of thirst."

"CoolsoIcangogetsomeberightback!" Nexi was gone in a flash and back before I blinked. She was in the process of bringing the glass to Edward's lips. _Oh, well. A little glass of water won't— _I mentally facepalmed and shot the glass out of Nexi's hand with a bolt of shrapnel. She looked confused. "His power is _Glass_," I explained. "You can get a plastic cup if he _really_ wants a drink."

Nexi's mouth made a little 'o' and Edward tried to vaporize me with his glare. It wasn't working.

"Should have known," He mumbled.

Nexi let out a little squeal of delight. "OhmygodIloveyouraccentcanwegetmarriedIwannagetmarriedVince_pleeeeeease_letmekeephim!" She threw her arms around Edward's neck; "HecouldbetheIristomyBarryAllenandtheWandatomyPietroc'monVinceplease?"

It took awhile for my brain to catch up with her mouth. "Sure," I finally stated.

"Ahyeswe'llgetmarriedandhavecutebabiesandyou'llteachthemtotalkinyouraccent!" Nexi squealed and squeezed Edward even tighter. His face was turning increasingly brighter shades of scarlet.

"Um, what?"

Edward was looking flustered. Whether it was because Nexi had her arms around him, the fact that I'd just told Nexi they could get married or because he couldn't keep up with our conversation.

"AnywaysgottarunI'llseeyalaterI'mcompetinginthearenayouknow."

"Again?" I grinned, "Go get 'em tiger."

"Nowthatyou'renothereImightactuallystandachanceatwinning." She flashed me a smiled before whizzing out of the room.

"What… What just happened?" Edward's face pretty much looked like a tomato.

"She fell in love with your accent, wanted to marry you, promised to feed and water you, and compared you to to Iris and herself to Barry Allen. I then agreed to your marriage and she left to go fight in a gladiator arena."

He shook his head, "Bloody hell."

"She's a handful." I agreed.

"Vince?" I turned around to see Opal, who captured my lips with hers. We shared a long, passionate kiss and she left me tasting of mint and raspberries.

I heard Edward mumble, "Whatever happened to Andrea Quincy?"

I grinned, "Oh, she's into this."

"Nexi told me there was a genuine Scotsman around with you in the same room." She burst into a grin, "I can't resist a man wearing a tartan kilt-" She stopped mid-sentence when she saw Edward. "You?"

"You?" He echoed.

I looked back and forth between the two. "You guys know each other?"

Opal nodded, "From the—"

"—Piano competition," Edward finished.

Opal beamed. "Your rendition of Prayer of the Refugee was amazing."

I don't know how it was possible but his face got _even_ redder. "I wouldn't say amazing," He mumbled.

"The judges' jaws practically hit the floor." Edward chuckled then winced. Half of his wounds had healed but there was still some of David's superpowered punches to take into consideration.

"Well, your adaptation of Für Elise was quite heartwarming." He returned the compliment and Opal practically swooned.

"He's _gorgeous!_ Why are we torturing him?" Opal whispered into my ear, "Y'know, I might just give you up for him."

"He's gay." Her face dropped so quickly it was hilarious. Edward groaned when he realised what she had said to him and her face quickly gave Edward's a run for it's money. I felt like I was sitting inbetween two stop lights, they were so red.

"Okay then." I got up from my chair, "You two catch up, and I'll go kick it with Jace."

* * *

><p>Andi, Jace and I were all chilling in the other room. We'd brought in a couch, pizza, and given Jace paint, brushes and an easel. It'd been a few hours since I'd last talked to Edward. I wolfed down another slice of pineapple pizza, "Good to be painting again?"<p>

"Great," Jace said with a smile. "Thanks for taking off the cuffs."  
>"No biggie." I handed him another slice and he ate with one hand and painted with the other.<p>

"I _still_ think you should have let me in there," Andi grumbled. "I would have had him squealing like a pig."

"And he would have been missing a few appendages," I countered.

"So what? He can live without a few fingers." She stole my pizza and finished it off.

I feigned shock, "Andi! How could you?!"

She grinned and craned her neck upwards to whisper in my ear; "I'll make it up to you." And what she whispered next sent shivers down my spine.

Jace's grinning face peeked out from behind the canvas. "You two are adorable."

Andi shook her head, a bemused grin on her face. "I would have used the word _delectable_, but sure." She snuggled closer to me on the couch and I began to massage her shoulders. She started purring.

"Knock it off," Jace said behind the easel. "I can't even see you and I might barf."

"What're you painting anyways?" I asked as I dug into a particularly sensitive spot, causing Andi to yelp.

"Softer, Vince!"

"The pain is weakness leaving the body!" I scolded, before continuing to knead her shoulders. Apparently the pain subsided because she went from tense to relaxed and purred again.

"I have a thing of not telling anyone what I'm painting until I've finished. Drives Celia mad half the time. So… when am I getting out?" Jace asked.

"Dunno."

"Soon," Opal interrupted, standing at the door. "Vince, Ed wants to talk. With everyone."

* * *

><p>We all crowded into the tiny room. Edward looked up, "Jace? They let <em>you<em> out?"

"We're good," He said with a smile. "They hooked it up with pizza."

Edward blinked, twice. "Bloody unbelievable."

"So Ed, what'd you wanna say?" I asked.

"I don't know much. They've got metal powers, but far less extensive than yours. They pack some kind of grenade that can disable your powers for a bit."

"RFI grenades," I decided. "Damn."

"We could have easily taken them. But then someone else arrived in a car. His powers go far beyond yours. Still the three of us were doing fine—"

"Three?" Andi interrupted.

"Me, Jace and Darren. Didn't you see all the concrete in the crater. Darren is— _used to be_— Augustine's most trusted lieutenant, and probably the strongest concrete-wielder after her. We were holding our own when he threw and RFI grenade that suppressed Darren's power.

"One of the GOLIATHs knocked out Darren but we _still _could have won, if _Jace_," He spat his name, and the Albino looked guilty "didn't panic and cause an explosion. Jace was knocked out cold and apparently my heartbeat stopped. But a woman named Alice saved us from the metal-dude. You know her?" We nodded, "She used some crazy powers but GOLIATH got away with Darren. Alice said that she restarted my heart." I had a feeling that he wasn't telling us _every _detail.

I ran a hand through my hair, "Do you happen to know this '_leader whose powers go far beyond mine'_s name?" That was a bit more of a mouthful than I had expected.

He glared at me, well we're not exactly _friends_, "Only his first name— Darren addressed him as Victor."

Have you ever been hit in the chest with a sledgehammer? No? Well pretend then. Because that's what it felt like when Edward said the word Victor. My breath left in one big _whoosh_ and it was near impossible to get the next one. I was vaguely aware that Andi made some half-assed excuse before she pulled me out of the room. It took a good minute for me to be able to focus again.

"Vince?" Andi asked for what must have felt like the hundredth time. "Vince?"

"My dad," I mumbled. "He's alive."

* * *

><p>I sat on the bed, staring at the ceiling. I was still trying to process the information that my dad was among the living <em>and<em> trying to come up with a new word for how dead we were.

"Vince?" Andi sat down, next to me and slipped her hand into mine, "It's been hours. Say something."

"Cadaverific."

She gave me a wry grin, "Not what I was expecting."

I rolled over and kissed her heatedly, exploring her mouth and revelling in the sweetness. It was like she'd eaten an entire basket of strawberries. _Why is it that everyone I kiss tastes like some kind of berry?_ She tilted her head we were getting pretty into it when my brain spat out a useful idea. I practically heard the ding and a lightbulb went off above my head. I jumped off the bed, tore open the closet and immediately pulled the laptop from Curdun Cay.

"What the hell?!" Andi complained. "Vince, get back over here and finish what you started!"

I was too busy typing to notice. _C'mon, c'mon. _I hit enter with the search terms defined as 'Victor Tate'. Unsurprisingly, jack shit popped up.

_Damn._ I tired searching for Edward, Celia and Jace. Apparently Celia controlled paper, Edward couldn't remember anything before he was twelve and Jace was strongly opposed to Augustine in the beginning. There were pages of information so I quickly saved it all onto the hard drive before typing in Alice in Wonderland. There were two pictures of her (Or Esther Munroe, as the list called her): Blue eyes, blonde hair, and tan skin. A passport photo. If it wasn't for the grainy mugshot of her in her current state— white skin, white hair, white eyes— I would have a lot of trouble believing that was Alice from the past. I saved the photos too. The only information about her was a list of powers: Bibliokinesis, shape shifting, telepathy, telekinesis. Possible dimensional resonance. _The hell?_ I searched Kessler and I was diverted to an entry labeled 'Cole MacGrath'. I began reading and was halfway through the page before I realized who it was. _Holy shit. The Demon of New Marais._ I just got to the bit about Kessler when suddenly the page was redirected to a chat. Despite all my attempts, I couldn't get back to the page about Cole. The laptop dinged and a message showed up.

_PaprGrl: Someone's getting nosy._ Her name was in all white, easy to see against the black background.

I selected an alias and typed back.

_notMagneto: So what, Celia?_

_PaprGrl: What? How u kno my name? Jace tll u? I'll kill him._

_notMagneto: Whatever. Why can't I go back?_

_PaprGrl: I don't want you to, silly. _

_notMagneto: I was reading tho :(_

_PaprGrl: Who r u anyway? You got lvl 8 access, bt ur not registerd_

_notMagneto: Look at my name and think rlly, rlly hard_

_PaprGrl:... Vincent Tate?_

_notMagneto: *slow clap* congratz! You're not entirely stupid. Now put me back on the page_

_PaprGrl: Ask nicely_

_notMagneto: I'll kill Jace_

_PaprGrl: U BETTER NT IF U HURT HIM I'LL GUT U RGHT N FRONT O' UR PRECIOUS GRLFRND_

_notMagneto: Calm down, Jeez._

_PaprGrl: Srry. Therapists say I've got hostility issues_

_notMagneto: …_

_PaprGrl: So hows life?_

_notMagneto: ur jokin right? _

A new user popped up in the chatroom. Her text was icy blue.

_K: You should leave_

_PaprGrl: xcuse u, rude_

_K: You're in danger, Celia. You need to leave now. Victor Tate himself is coming to get you_

_PaprGrl: Who are u?_

_K: a friend you can trust_

_notMagneto: Victor Tate? Alice? Dat u?_

_K: quit _

_f shutdown /system_

_Codeword: Aftermath Gemini_

My computer shut off and I was left staring at a blank screen. _Aww crap._ I closed the laptop and slid it back into the closet, connecting it to the charger. _So, so close to answers._ I would have thought over the material I read before Andi tackled me, eyes blazing.

"Finish. What. You. Started." She jabbed my chest menacingly, "Now."

"Andi?" That was all I got out before she mashed her lips to mine and guided my hands downwards.

* * *

><p><strong>*plot intensifies*<strong>

**So, if the description of the gun confused you, there's a link on my profile.**

**Thanks for reading.**

**20 bucks you can't guess who K is.**

**No, really.**

**20 bucks.**

**Seriously though, 20 bux.**

**Please read and review, and remember kids: It's only Illegal if you get caught!**

**~Zeta**

* * *

><p>REVIEW THIS! If you don't, I'm never gonna update that LAST chapter of the Second Kessler (which I've already written) which reveals who the Second Kessler <em>really <em>is. See, Zeta? Blackmailing is far more efficient than begging!

Thanx and PEACE!  
>Haru<p>

**Goddamnit Haru! Stay in your own story and don't threaten our readers! :D**

Call me Kitty XD

**FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU**


	16. Chapter 16: Suits

A frantic week passed at the Converted's place. I lived there. I helped set up defenses, establish food supplies, search for GOLIATH and most importantly plan the wedding. It was gonna be huge, and I mean huge. Everyone was talking about it and more than a little money had changed hands. Most people had been betting on Kristil having to sack up and propose. They were wrong.

"Really?" I was staring at the proposed design for David's ring. "I'm good, but I'm not that good."

Kristal sighed, clearly annoyed. "You can't just imagine it? Isn't that how your powers work?"

"Yes and no." I closed my eyes and tried picturing the ring. The result was… less than satisfactory.

"You're not getting the liger right," She complained. "It's gold with silver stripes, not silver with gold stripes."

"How can you even tell?!" I flung the failed ring at the wall so hard it shattered on impact. Kistil blinked, clearly impressed. My phone went off and I grumbled, answering it. "This better be pretty damn important."

"Eugene's dead." It was Delsin on the line. "The funeral's tomorrow."

"Wait, what? How long has he been-"

"For a while now… We finally got it all organized. I'll text you the address." He sounded like the weight of the world was on his shoulders.

"I uh… what? Dead? How..."

"Just… I'll explain later. A lot's happened in the last week."

"Alright."

"Alright." He hung up.

I stared at my phone. Shit.

What?

Not now, Kristil. I've got to go get ready for a funeral.

Funeral? I didn't respond. Instead, I texted Andi.

Wher r u?  
>Need 2 meet<br>URGENT!

OMW was what she sent me. I sat down and stared at the ceiling blankly, forgetting that Kristil was in the room. He's dead? How? Why? I don't…. We barely got to play HH together. I felt a little guilty that this was one of the first things that popped up in my head.

Andi burst into the room, sword drawn. "Vince!?"

"Eugene's dead."

"He's dead? How? Why? I don't… you didn't even get to play Heaven's Hellfire together!"

"We actually did," I said with a smile. Then I remembered that he's dead and quickly wiped it off my face. "Funeral's tomorrow. I gotta go get a suit."

You do know where to buy a suit, yes? I could hear Kristil's telepathic message. She was trying her best not to be nosy about Eugene and, since she didn't ask, I didn't tell.

Got any suggestions, sugar queen?

Well, David is planning on purchasing a suit from 'Men's Wearhouse' for the wedding.

Oh joy. You'll love the way you look, I guarantee it. Well, thanks. I got up and put away my phone. "Let's go." I walked out the room and passed Ed on the way out.

"Are you gonna take off these bloody cuffs-"

"Not today, Edward." I walked past without giving him as much as a glance.

* * *

><p>I turned around and looked at myself in a full-length mirror. "I don't know. It's not sexy."<p>

"Well, you're not supposed to look sexy," Andi tutted, "You're going to a funeral."

"What? 'Sexy' isn't compatible with 'funeral'?" I feigned confusion. My mood hadn't gotten as bad as you'd think. It wasn't because I didn't care about Eugene, heck I— we both— cared a lot for the kid… it's just that when I look at Andi, I can tell that we're both feeling the same; denying it, refusing to let it sink in. We're not going to believe that a Conduit, and a god-damned powerful one at that, is dead until we see the body.

"For the record, Vince," She took two leisurely steps towards me before getting on her tip-toes and wrapping her arms around my neck, "You make it work." She pressed her lips onto mine. I turned away after a few seconds, not really in the mood at all.

"I can't believe it." I shrugged off the dark jacket and went to work unbuttoning the dress shirt. "There's no way he was killed. He's too powerful." I successfully navigated the last button only to realize I'd forgotten to untie the steel-grey tie that hung around my neck. I ripped it off in anger and threw it across the room. "Shit. I gotta pay for that."

"You're paying for it all anyways." Andi stooped down and picked up the ruined tie with a slight smirk. "Better get a new tie."

"I love you so much, Andrea Quincy. But you drive me crazy." I snatched the tie and stormed off, and her chuckling only pissed me off more.

"That's what I was born to do, Vincent Tate." She smirked over her shoulder, "And stop complaining, I let you have Opal after all." Then she walked away, leaving me to deal with my muddled emotions.

* * *

><p>I looked over at a rack of ties. Why the fuck are there so many? A midnight blue one caught my eye and I pulled it off. Out of the corner of my eye, I made out someone else entering the store. Some guy I didn't know; short, frizzy blond hair, deep blue eyes and pale-tan skin. He was wearing a black polo-shirt and black pair of trainers with a dark blue trim and a pair of light chinos. A trendy beaded bracelet wrapped snugly around his wrist and, when he turned his head, I saw a strip of blue dye in his hair. He was looking around the store and I couldn't help but notice that he looked a little confused. I walked up to him, blue tie still in hand.<p>

"Hey, you alright?" I asked as I approached.

He turned to face me, "Yeah, mate," His accent suggested he was British, a Londoner probably, "just a little lost, I'm not used to American shops." He glanced around the place again, "You wouldn't happen to know where the ties are, would ya?" I chuckled. Up close, he looked about a couple years younger than me, not much shorter. But he still packed enough muscle to take me on, if I wasn't a super-powerful Conduit of course.

"Right here, mate," I attempted a British accent as I escorted him to the tie-rack— feeling like a good samaritan, "Pick a colour, any colour. I'll just wait 'ere with my cuppa' tea." I grinned.

He rolled his eyes, "Dude, don' even try," He attempted a cowboy drawl, "I'm from the Wild West, your English accent is just as bad as my American."

"Actually that accent's pretty good."

"Yeah, I watched a lot of Western movies when I was a kid."

"When you were a 'kid'? You're still a kid, Kid."

"Actually, Grandpa, I'm sixteen." He picked out an ice-blue tie from the rack, examined it for a few seconds before realizing that he didn't like it and put it back.

"Y'know what?" I asked, trying my best to sound vicious.

He turned around, bemused, "What?"

"You're alright." I smirked. He held out his hand for me to shake, which I did, "I'm Vince."

"Ashton," He responded, "Ash is fine though." 'Ash' diverted his attention back to the tie-rack. I was about to make a smart-ass comment when he mumbled something that I couldn't quite hear.

"Say again?"

"You're a Conduit, aren't you?" He kept looking through the ties, as if he hadn't just dropped a bombshell-question.

I decided to play it safe, "Why do you say that?"

"Your eyes. Bronze with streaks of silver. Bit strange for a normal human." He turned to look at me, "Except mine are boring blue, so I guess I'm a bit of an exception to the rule."

"You're a Conduit?" Yeah, I'm sure all you humans want badass powers but just cos you claim— he raised his hand and small flecks of blue fire swirled around it, "Pyrokinesis?"

"Cryokinesis, actually. But apparently that's only my primary power. I'm an Empath too."

I groaned, "Kill me."

"I'm guessin' that you're getting a suit for the funeral?" Ash picked out a royal-blue tie with white pinstripes.

"You knew Eugene?"

"Yeah. Well not really, we only had a few conversations," He kept his eyes averted, "didn't hurt any less when he died though."

"You saw it?"

He sighed and placed the pinstriped tie back before picking out a pitch-black one, "Some dude who calls himself Kessler—"

"Shit." I pulled Durendal out of my Cole-MacGrath-backpack, "He use a gun like this one?" Ash's eye widened at the sight of the gun. They weren't as boring as he claimed, they were the same midnight-blue as the tie in my hand but had splashes of different shades of blue on the edges of his irises.

"Exactly the same…" He turned away from me and surveyed the store again and spotted a clock, "Look, I need to go. See you later some time?"

"Yeah, sure."

We both paid for our ties and Ash walked out. There's something about him that seems… off. And I'm not just saying that because he's British.

**Sorry for the short chapter...  
>Well no text walls today at least.<br>Stay Awesome.  
>~Zeta<strong>


	17. Chapter 17: There's no fun in Funeral

I sighed and tugged on my suit jacket. I tried to banish the dark thoughts that swirled like storm clouds in my mind, and was gloriously unsucessful. I began tying my midnight blue tie, staring emptily into the mirror.

Death is not something easily dealt with.

My Bronze, silver-flecked eyes gazed back. I sighed again and kicked my dress shoes against the mirror. _I hate stuff like this._ _For someone who kills a lot, you'd think it'd get easier._

It doesn't.

It never will.

"Vince?" I turned to see Andi standing in the doorway, wearing a black lace dress (with matching heels and jet stone brooch) that I'd never seen before in my life. I didn't even know Andi _knew _what lace was. I thought her wardrobe was just _t-shirts_ and _jeans._ I kinda just blinked and stared at her for a few seconds.

She rolled her eyes. "Say anything and I'll gut you."

"You look good?" I offered, tentative. "I didn't know you had a dress… like _that_."

"So I look like an old lady. It's a funeral and I'm not wearing jeans." Andi slung Zhănshǒu across her back, "C'mon. I'm driving."

"For the record," I said as I stepped forward to loop my arm around hers, "You make it work."

* * *

><p>We pulled up at a cemetery, not a church. It's not what I was expecting but at the same time it felt more appropriate. I realized that I didn't even know if Eugene was religious. I saw a small crowd gathered and Andi drove forward, then parked. Delsin came over to greet us as we got out. It was the first time that I'd seen him without his beanie. His dark hair was combed back and his eyes seemed heavy with sorrow. I could make out six other figures gathered around Eugene's grave. Alice was there, and stood next to a fat man who I've never seen before and another woman whose skin was a blueish hue and had long cobalt hair trailing down the back of her coat. I didn't recognise Fetch immediately because she had dyed her hair neon blue and she stood next to Ash who was wearing the black tie he bought yesterday. There was another figure further away from the group. I couldn't see their face, but I could tell that it was a girl, and there was something about her hair that looked familiar but I couldn't quite place my finger on it.<p>

"Hey. Thanks for coming." I was snapped out of my routine studying of everyone present by Delsin.  
>I nodded at him and got out of the car, hearing the door clunk softly as I pulled on the handle and slowly started heading to the small gathering that had started without us.<p>

* * *

><p>"... And that's all, I guess." Delsin shrugged awkwardly, hands in pockets, staring at the freshly-dug earth that now held a friend. "I don't know what else to say. I'm pretty sure that Eugene wouldn't want us to stand around, doing nothing, feeling like shit." A wry grin crept across his face; "It doesn't help though, does it?" A soft murmur accompanied that statement and I found myself nodding.<p>

Andi wiped away a solitary tear and I tightened my arm across her shoulders, trying to give her some comfort. "I'm not crying," she said, trying to convince herself more than me.

I let my head rest on hers. "It's alright," I murmured.

It wasn't, but one little white lie couldn't hurt anyone.

Delsin suddenly spoke up. "So, uh, there's no tombstone." He was staring downwards, his eyes fastened on his shiny black dress shoes. "That's because I was planning to do this." He raised his hands and closed his eyes in concentration as concrete began to swirl. A shape began to from amidst the rubble, and soon a statue of Eugene was formed, geeky glasses, HH shirt, hoodie and all. He had a slight smile on his face but the most prominent feature was the added wings that extended from his shoulder blades. It was so lifelike it took my breath away. Andi took a small step forwards and pointed a finger at the statue. Multi-coloured ink floated through the air and ran across the surface of the statue, painting it in exact accordance to how Eugene looked but she left the wings and eyes alone. Not wanting to be left out, I held out a hand and plated each individual feather with blue and purple gold (yes I said blue and purple _gold_, it _is _possible by creating intermetallic indium- and aluminium-gold compounds… betcha didn't know I could do that, huh?). Fetch finished it off by making the eyes and wings glow and created a shining halo above his head. Alice, Ash, Sunglasses and Smurf-chick stood by, watching the statue shimmer in the sunlight when Fetch burst into tears. Delsin wrapped his arms around her shoulders and let out a shuddering sigh. "I'm gonna miss you, buddy."

It was enough to make me cry. And I did, a little bit, hating the salty sting as tears trickled down my face. "Damn." I whispered softly.

"I hate funerals," Andi agreed, wiping her eyes and smudging her mascara.. "I've been to too many as it is."

This is the first she's been to that _I _know of. "It surprises me, how much about your life I don't know."

She turned away, not wanting to make eye-contact. "Later," She promised.

I made a noncommittal grunt. It bothers me sometimes, that I really don't know much about Andi. I mean, I'm head over-head heels in love with her and-

Wait, head-over heels?

Love?

Ohboy.

I mean, we say "I love you" and all that but I didn't think that-

Did I just…?

I need to go and think for a while.

Uh… I'll finish writing this later.

Damn.

**Eyyy.**

**Looks like Vince finally came to terms with some stuff ;) I've decided that he's writing his memoirs/journal or something, so he might break the 4th wall a little. **

**In le *next chapter we'll finish off the funeral.**

**Stay Awesome.**

**~Zeta**

***because I'm a lazy bastard and my inspiration is lacking. **


	18. Chapter 18: (Wo)Man with a Plan

I decided not to press Andi and turned away to see Alice standing right at my shoulder. I jumped. "Alice?!"

"Yes, Alice." She smiled, "Don't worry, I'm not here for you. Well, I am here for you, just not in a menacing way that would involve your death and or defeat."

I raised an eyebrow. "You really need to work on your greetings, because _that_ was definitely not comforting."

"It wasn't supposed to be comforting." She stretched, arms above her head, "But I digress."

"Alice, right?" Andi asked. "You knew Eugene?"

"I know _of _him. I know that he had near-unparalleled potential and I know that because of that, _Kessler _killed him." She spat the name in disgust, "There was once a time when the title of 'Kessler' was taken by a Conduit with nothing but the safety of mankind on their agenda, the _imposter _who killed Eugene spits on the name."

Andi casually leaned in to me, "Passionate rant." She muttered so only I could hear.

_Teach your girlfriend to stop being rude, _Alice glared at me, her lips locked in a tight smile.

_Maybe you just need to chill and hit a blunt, _I countered with raised eyebrow.

Her eyes narrowed. _I'd never voluntarily surrender my clarity of mind. _

_I'm not even slightly surprised._

"Okay," Delsin spoke up, "We're going back to the House. Alice, you wanted to say something?"

"Yes," Gray light flicked across her ivory skin, "But it can wait until we're all at the House." it almost sounded like a suggestion but I could tell that it was more of an order. She looked over her shoulder at the girl who I had seen before but not recognised. She was still pretty far away but slowly made her way towards us when she noticed Alice's stare.

I realized who it was when she got closer. "Paper girl."

Her eyes widened in surprise and her hand flicked towards a black staff that was fastened to her back, "You know me?"

"Know you?" I chuckled, "Jace won't shut up about you." Apparently that was the wrong thing to say, because in a flash she had an unreasonably sharp paper knife pressed up against my throat. A smile split her face.

"Where. Is. He?"

The first thing that came into my mind was to say _up your butt and around the corner._ The second was _go fuck yourself._ I was vying for the third option when I it noticed that Andi had her sword pressed against Celia's throat. Her own hand flew for her staff.

"Don't." It was more of a command than a request.

Celia looked like a wild animal who just got backed into a corner, which if you know anything about animals, is definitely not a good thing. I had do so something.

"Andi." I motioned for her to drop her sword. She didn't and I cursed mentally at her for being stubborn. I swear I heard Alice chuckle. "Celia. I'll take you to him, but if you slit my throat that can't happen." I saw her grip slacken, almost imperceptibly. "So how about you put the knife away?" I looked around and saw that everyone was looking at us. Fetch had her hands raised and so did Delsin. The woman with icy-blue arms was frowning at us and Sunglasses had a hand resting on his gun. "There's not going to be a way out for you if you don't."

Celia, glaring daggers, dropped the knife from my throat and Andi lowered Zhǎnshǒu ."Take me. Now."

I nodded, and caught Delsin's eye as we turned away. _Follow us._ He got the unspoken message and inclined his head ever so slightly as we headed back towards the car.

* * *

><p>"Kristil?" I yelled as we entered the new and improved Flea, "You've got company."<p>

"Vince, thank god. You need to get back to work on the ring-" Her eyes narrowed as she saw Celia. "Ah. I take it this visit isn't pleasure, then. You know the way." _She's insane, you stupid little man._

_Oh, so we're back to the insults,_ I complained.

_You should not have brought her here.  
>Can't you just lift her memories of how we got here?<em>

She looked at me questioningly, _Yes._

_Do it. _I broke the eye contact and headed down a long hall to the doors at the end. I pushed it open, unceremoniously. "You've got a visitor, Jace."

Celia squealed like a schoolgirl and rushed into the room. "Jace!"

"Celia?!" I watched him get pulled into a kiss and I turned to Andi with an accusing look on my face.

"How come I don't get treated like that?"

She scowled, "You get treated _better._"

I opened my mouth, and found that I had no argument. So I stepped inside the room where a very passionate reunion was going on.

By which I mean Celia and Jace were sucking face like no tomorrow while Edward sat watching, completely mortified. "Dear Jesus, if you exist, please end my life," He prayed, eyes upturned to heaven.

I walked over and pulled him to his feet, none too gently. "C'mon, we're skipping out."

He looked at me curiously but I offered no further explanation, so he shrugged. "Fine with me."

"Good." Andi made to follow us but I shook my head. What happened next was between me and Ed. Matter of honor and all that.

* * *

><p>I waited until we were a good three blocks away before stopping. "Alright, here's the thing: I don't like you and I'm sure it's mutual. But, we need to band together to survive. So here's our chance to air the bad blood and get it over with." I raised a hand, and his metal shackles fell to the ground in a heap.<p>

Edward flexed his hands and looked at me in wonder. "You're trying to be the bigger man, huh?"

"Yep." I cracked my neck and unslung my amp. "Plenty of old glass windows around here for you."

A grin lit up his face. "Oh, you're so fucked."

"With lube or without?" I shot back, seeing his face redden. "C'mon, queer boy, I ain't got all day."

With a growl, he launched himself at me. I swung my amp, and it met a glass trident in a crash of sparks. "I'm gonna kill you." He swore, as we broke away.

"Not likely," I taunted with a grin. "I can run faster because of my longer heel bone."

His mouth dropped open. "A racist _and _a homophobe," He muttered. "You're a piece of work." He flung his arms wide, and all the glass windows shattered and flowed into him. "I'm gonna enjoy this."

I could have waited for him to finish absorbing the glass, but seeing as life is not a movie, I ran forward and kicked him in the dick. He caught my leg and spun me around, letting go at the last second so I crashed into the metal frames that used to hold windows. _Big_ mistake. I sheathed my Amp and pulled the metal around me into grains of black sand right as Ed fired a glass rocket.

Did I charge Iron Sand? Sure.

But I also bought a rocket to the face.

I tumbled backwards into the dilapidated building, wondering why that rocket didn't _hurt_. Sure, my ears were ringing but there was only a slight sting from the blast that should have broken some ribs. I didn't have time to ponder it because Edward came right in after me, firing two rockets. "Fuck you!"

I stood up, and opened both arms wide to receive the rockets with a grin. "Not today, Scotty."

I know, that was not the best plan, but I did it anyways.

Before I could even blink, Iron Sand rushed up in front of me and caught the two rockets, shielding me from the explosion and stopping them dead in their tracks. "Huh," I mused aloud, "So the blast core turned me into Metal Gaara. Awesome."

"Oh come on!" Edward groaned.

I flicked my wrist and send a wave of iron sand that engulfed him and smashed through the side of the old building. "I could get used to this." I called my sand back and it wrapped around me like a cloak. _No more waste, _I thought with a smile. I saw more glass flow into Edward, and he let loose a torrent of… _molten glass?!_ I matched that with my sand, and the tides raged back and forth. I started pulling up metal from the ground at first, but that soon ran out. So I ripped it out of the building and launched myself upwards through a skylight, leaving it to collapse onto Edward. I then realized with a start that I was flying. _This day just keeps getting better._ I swooped down on the shuddering building and rained rockets onto it in a series of explosions that tore it apart and sent Edward flying. I followed him to the crash site, floating on a sand cloud, my arms crossed as I hovered above him with a grin. _I am SO buying robes after this. They'd look awesome, flowin' in the wind and shit. _

Ed groaned and tried moving, but I covered him in iron sand before lifting him up to eye level. "Look, you can't win. I haven't had these abilities for five seconds and I'm already kicking your―"

My cloud exploded in a flash of red light and I was sent sprawling. I heard Ed crunch to the ground, but I was already focused on recovery, landing on my feet and spinning to face a very angry Jace and Celia who looked like she had murder on her mind. "I can explain," I said, hurriedly. Excuse me if I didn't want to get into a fight with _three_ Conduits.  
>"It better be good," Jace said in a dangerously low voice.<p>

"It is," Edward groaned, although he was already healing. I don't think even I could heal that fast, "He offered and I accepted. I just didn't expect to get the snot beaten out of me." He pulled himself up, using his trident as support. "How did you get so bloody powerful? It's only been a few weeks."

I shrugged, not wanting to reveal my power source. "Mind your own business." I raised a hand and called my sand back around me, revelling in the feeling. I never wanted to go back to ordinary metal again. "We good?"

"I hardly got to punch you," He mumbled. "But yeah, we're good." He stretched out a well-muscled hand, and we shook. He glanced at Celia, "Y'reckon it's cos of a Blast Core?"

"It makes sense." She nodded.

Well, so much for magicians not revealing their secrets and all that shit, "How did you know?"

"Mind your own business." Ed flashed me a smirk. I had a tiny feeling that we were probably going to get on a bit more.

* * *

><p>So the five of us were sitting in the same room that Jace was once imprisoned in (which was now kitted out with a plasma screen T.V. and leather couches that would make Obama jealous) and eating pizza. Well, me, Edward (who I swear eats more than a fucking elephant) and Jace were eating pizza; Andi and Celia were too busy glaring daggers into each other when David and Achilles strolled in.<p>

He picked up a box from the table and opened to find a pepperoni pizza, "I need to trust your nose more, Achilles." The liger let out a grunt before snatching the box out of Dave's hands before carrying it into the corner of the room in his jaws and settling down. "The sass!" The Converted muttered as he grabbed another box and took his seat next to me. His violet-blue eyes flicked to Edward and then to his unbound hands, "So no more shackles?"

Edward opened his mouth to answer but Celia interrupted, "I don't think anyone could restrain either of us three _conscious _assassins."

Andi scoffed, "I'd love to test that theory."

"And I'd love to kick your ass." The two of them snapped up from their seats and had their weapons in hand. Celia's staff was actually some sort of spear, with a blade almost as long as Zhǎnshǒu's. Luckily, I was fast enough to grab my girlfriend's hand and pulled her down before she went demon-mode on her fellow assassin counterpart, shutting her up with a kiss before she could protest. Jace had the sense to do the same with Celia. David had tensed up and looked ready to spring to action any second, and Achilles actually looked up from his pizza.

Ed, on the other hand, was too busy studying his flawless blond hair in a glass mirror he had created. "All you drama-queens faffin' about and giving guys a handful. Thank you Jesus for makin' me gay." I think he was talking to himself but we all heard.

Celia turned to him, fury glinting in her eyes, "_Drama-queen?_" She closed her hand into a fist and a paper knife appeared. Before anyone could stop her, she hurled it at Edward's head. A tiny shard of glass materialised in the knife's way and intercepted it less than an inch away from his skin. Neither of the three DUP-trained Conduits looked fazed by Celia attempting to murder Ed so it's probably a common thing for her to do. "Coming from the guy who cried for a _week_ when his first boyfriend moved to a different country."

"What can I say?" Edward shrugged, "I guess I'm sensitive."

I started choking on pizza when I burst into laughter, earning me a glare from Ed and a grin from Celia. "A week?! Goddamn, Ed I thought you were a man's man!"

"I am a man's man," He mumbled, turning red. He's really, really easy to embarrass, and I loved it.

Kristil came in, trailing _another_ liger. _Jeez, do they mass-produce these things or what?_ She smiled at David and made her way over to me, leaning over uncomfortably close until I could feel her breath tickling my ear.

"I couldn't get at Celia's memories," She purred. "Something is stopping me."

"Great." I tried not to fidget but failed miserably and twitched away from her as she smiled. "It's probably got something to do with the earpieces they're all wearing…"

The smile turned into a smirk as she curled up on the couch and rested her head on my shoulder. "Probably."

_What the hell are you doing?_ I glanced between David and Andi, unable to tell which one looked like they wanted to kill me more.

_I finally found out how to get under you skin, Vincent. I'm enjoying it. _She flicked my earlobe before slinking away to talk to David in hushed tones. I slid off the couch in relief, partly because she was a _safe_ distance away and partially because Andi's aggression was now focused on someone who couldn't blow anything up if they got into a fight. I mean, it would be a short fight. _Andi would get up in there, do some fancy knife-work- Actually, she lost her blades. I wonder if that Zeke guy could do anything about that? He is working on my Amp right now_.

"So Jace tells me you're 'super-strong'..." David broke my train of thought and when I looked over, he was looking at Edward with an amused smile.

"And?" Edward was back to frowning at himself in the mirror, completely uninterested.

"And I'd like to see for myself." David ran his free hand through Achilles' fur, wholly relaxed. Edward took another bite out of his pizza and put his mirror down, before reaching down to the base of the couch where only Jace and Celia sat (tongue hockey must be a really passionate hobby for them).

"What the f—" was all Jace managed to utter when Ed upturned the entire couch with a flick of his wrist. Celia furiously jumped up and stomped over to him but Jace grabbed her wrist and pulled her into a kiss— effectively shutting her up… again.

David got onto his knees and rested his elbow on the table, "Arm-wrestle." He explained. The Conduit gave the Converted a smirk that said, _You don't stand a chance, _before getting into position on the opposite side of the table. They clasped hands and immediately started— I saw the 'I'm-pretending-to-look-casual-and-effortless-so-my-ego-isn't-damaged-but-in-fact-this-is-taking-a-lot-of-effort" look that I was way too familiar with. In all honesty, I probably would have watched them until one of them won, but the first five minutes looked like it was going nowhere fast so I got bored pretty quickly.

I felt a cold breeze enter the room a split-second before Alice (who probably couldn't be arsed to introduce herself) and Ash (who looked too busy on the phone to introduce himself) did. Alice immediately plopped down next to me while simultaneously snatching the remote and beginning to channel-surf. I crept up from the floor and back on the couch, where I cuddled with Andi, who was _still_ trying to vaporize Krisil and Celia with her glare. Sheesh, it's not the only couch in the room, y'know? What's so special about this one? I mean…

"Fetch, I swear," Ash said, loudly, holding the phone away from his ear and looking like a scolded puppy. "You're either faffin' about wit' Delsin or takin' a kip." I watched as he brought the phone back to his ear and listened for a pause, face slowly turning into a grin. "Nap. Kip means nap, but I guess you're not nappin' are ya?" I heard a shriek and laughed when Ash dropped his phone.

"It's not funny," He grumbled as he bent over to grab his phone. "I just got this one." A slam sounded from the other corner of the room and David cheered in triumph. I caught Ed's head swiveling around to face David again as he scoffed and demanded a left-handed rematch. _What was he just looking at?_

"Vince, quit fidgeting," Andi mumbled as she flicked my stomach in annoyance. "You're not being a very good outer spoon."

"There's too much going on," I mumbled. "But sorry." I shifted around on the couch some until I could comfortably wrap my arms all the way around her midsection and nuzzle into her neck. "Better?"  
>"Much," She mumbled. A few minutes later I heard a quiet snore from her. She'd been doing that a lot lately. She said she hadn't had any nightmares since she'd gotten ahold of Zhǎnshǒu and I guess her body was trying to catch up on lost sleep. It wasn't long before Ed came over to join us, carefully swinging his legs up to avoid Alice as he sat next to us.<p>

"Hey." He said, quietly. "Who's the Brit?"

"Ashton. He goes by Ash." I tried putting as much venom as possible into my words to try and convey to Ed that this conversation _could wait_, but he didn't pick up on it. Maybe he ignored it.

"Conduit?"

I cracked an eye, an eye that I hoped looked like it was full of murderous rage and not just fatigue. "Ice and Empathy." I watched Ed smile and relax into the cushions. It was a few minutes before he spoke again.

"Cool."

I snorted. "You took five minutes and came up with that? Your puns are awfully _queer._"

Ed's eyes widened in disbelief. "Now _that _was a bad pun."

"Yep." With Alice channel surfing, at least it was quiet. She flicked channels so fast there was only the occasional blip of sound. "Say, don't you Scotts hate Brits or something?" I was gratified with a facepalm.

"... Scotland is _in _Britain_,_" he grumbled. "Which you would know if you ever took geography."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I got you confused with the Irish," I shot back, grinning. "Won't happen again." I managed the satisfaction of seeing him squirm before he posed another question.

"So, you know him?"

"Oh, for Frond's sake." He promptly looked at me like I was crazy. "Guess you never read Artemis Fowl," I muttered before continuing. "What's with the twenty questions? I'm trying to get some quality snuggle time in an' shit."

Edward snickered into the palm of his well-muscled hand. "What was with the "and shit" at the end there?"

"Preserving masculinity," I explained. "The phrase 'quality snuggle time' is not exactly manly, so I added 'and shit' to the end. That makes anything sound thug." I watched with satisfaction as he tried it mentally and found that what I said rang true, as per usual. "You dodged my question though…" I let the thought trail off until the realization hit me harder than Andi on her period. "Oh my god. You like him." There was no reply from the suddenly sordid Irish- sorry, Scotsman, so I rode my train of thought even further. "Unbelieveable._You_ were staring at his _ass_ when you lost the arm wrestle."

"I was not!" He snapped, face getting redder by the second.

"Good god Edward!" I feigned dismay, pressing the back of my hand into my forehead before Andi yanked it back down around her waist. "What would your mother say?"

Ed fumed, unable to think of a comeback. I could practically see steam rushing out of his ears.

"Ed, really? I mean, come on. You couldn't have ogled his ass at a more opportune time?"

His head sunk slowly onto his chest, admitting defeat. "Shut up."

"You're surrounded by great asses," I said with a grin, "Female and _male._ What makes his so special?"

"He's the only one available," He shot back. "And I'm sodding _GAY_, so nix on the girls."

"So, you're saying I have a nice ass but you don't look at it out of respect for Andi?"

A whole new shade of red worked itself across Ed's face. "I, I… No, er, yes… Wait, no, no, no!"

I burst out laughing, earning a smack from Andi. It was so worth it though. "Wait, wait. Oh god," I tried catching my breath only to burst into laughter again, "Oh god. Hee hee, ohhhhh. Damn."

"It's not that funny," he muttered.

"Yeah, it is." I waited for a heartbeat before following up. "Rate my ass on a scale from one to ten."

Poor Ed looked like he was about to have convulsions. Veins were literally standing out on his forehead and he sputtered angrily.  
>I couldn't help myself. "Oh god, <em>Eddie<em>," I lowered my voice to baritone and fluttered my eyelashes at him, "is that a boner?" I didn't even know that humans could turn that shade of red.  
>I would have carried on until either Ed died of embarrassment or I died of laughter if Alice hadn't snapped at me: "SHUT UP!"<br>Imagine the scariness of '_The Exorcist', 'Jaws'_,'_The Texas Chainsaw Massacre'_ and every single animatronic scream from '_Five nights at Freddy's 2' _compressed into two words and you have a pretty good idea of what that sounded like. Needless to say I shut up. And it took me a few seconds but I realized why she had yelled at me to shut up.

My dad was on tv.  
>Giving a speech.<br>And what he was saying chilled me to the bone.

**I finally updated! Sorry it took awhile but I needed to find my inspiration again, so I dove into other fanfics, which you may be seeing soon ;)**

**Stay awesome**

**~Zeta**


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